LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The Trump administration on Monday released a proposal to redefine waters of the U.S. to conform with the Supreme Court's ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The proposal comes after the EPA held nine public listening sessions across the country during the past year.

In the latest iteration of the rule that has been changed by several administrations, dating back to the Obama administration, the EPA said that key terms such as "relatively permanent," "continuous surface connection," and "tributary" would be defined to better outline the scope of WOTUS consistent with the Clean Water Act.

The proposal establishes that jurisdictional tributaries are required to connect to traditional navigable waters, either directly or through other features that provide predictable and consistent flow.

The new rule would reaffirm that wetlands must be indistinguishable from jurisdictional waters through a continuous surface connection. This means such waters are required to touch jurisdictional water and hold surface water for a certain duration annually.

The Trump rule also preserves jurisdictional exclusions, including certain ditches, prior converted cropland and waste treatment systems, as well as a new exclusion for groundwater.

The proposal would use familiar terminology, such as "wet season," to help determine whether water bodies qualify as WOTUS.

EPA touted the proposal to cut red tape for industry, including farmers and ranchers.

"Last week, I finished up traveling to all 50 states since February," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said during a press event on Monday. "There is no topic that came up more during my travels than the need for a revised definition of waters of the United States.

"And I know that across the country, news of today's proposal is going to be met with a lot of relief and happiness from farmers, ranchers, other landowners, governments that have been looking for a simple, prescriptive definition that the whole country can operate off of and would allow individuals to know whether or not there's a water of the United States without having to go hire an attorney or a consultant, having to pay someone to tell them."

The proposal will be up for a 45-day public comment period once it is posted to the Federal Register.

The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a news release on Monday that they expect to host two public meetings on the proposal and would be "working expeditiously" to finalize a rule.

"My goal, right from the onset, was to come up with a definition that no matter what would happen, in November of '28 or November of 2032, that you're going to keep this definition," Zeldin said.

"This wasn't about taking a pendulum and swinging it as far as you can up against another edge. It's about getting it right. And I think that our farmers, our ranchers, our landowners in these states absolutely deserve it. Our proposal includes practical commonsense revisions that will make a real difference."

During the public comment sessions hosted by the EPA, farmers and ranchers called for the agency to make several WOTUS clarifications.

The industry asked for a rule that aligns with the Sackett ruling, which not only outlawed the significant nexus test when making jurisdictional determinations, but also solidified that only wetlands touching navigable waters were jurisdictional -- essentially making it less likely that isolated wetlands would be covered.

Environmental groups have opposed the EPA's approach from the get-go this year and continued to voice opposition on Monday.

"We've forgotten that we have clean water because of the Clean Water Act," said Jim Murphy, the National Wildlife Federation's senior director of legal advocacy.

"This rule would further strip protection from streams that flow into the rivers and lakes that supply our drinking water. The wetlands now at risk of being bulldozed filter our water supplies and protect us from floods. Revoking these long-standing protections will hit families in their pocketbooks by raising water treatment costs and home insurance rates. This rule will increase the risk of elevated nitrates and cyanotoxins in drinking water, harming our health. Over time, the impacts to water quality, wildlife and our way of life will be significant. The crisis facing aquatic wildlife will deepen and it will become harder to find places to fish, boat and swim."

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Policy Director Keisha Sedlacek said in a statement the EPA proposal would "deal a serious blow" to the ongoing restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

"Wetlands, including those isolated from other waters and streams that don't flow continuously all year are critical to clean water in the Bay and its local rivers and streams," Sedlacek said.

"They also provide habitat and spawning grounds for fish, waterfowl and wildlife important to our region's seafood and outdoor recreation industries. And they're invaluable for softening the blow of extreme weather on low-lying communities like Annapolis and Norfolk."

Ag interests also asked the agency to align the next rule with the plurality opinion in Rapanos v. U.S.

In the Rapanos case, the Supreme Court plurality held that Clean Water Act protections extend only to "relatively permanent, standing, or continuously flowing" bodies of water. The court also said that excluded intermittent or ephemeral waters.

In Rapanos, the court also created a "continuous connection" test for adjacent wetlands to be considered jurisdictional.

Ag groups called on the agencies to categorically exclude ephemeral and most intermittent waters. In following the Sackett ruling, ag representatives asked that wetlands only be considered as jurisdictional if they directly abut and are indistinguishable from WOTUS.

The EPA said in a news release on Monday that under the Biden administration, the agency along with the Corps of Engineers, finalized a rule that "failed to follow the law and faithfully implement" the Sackett ruling.

In March 2025, the Trump administration issued a memorandum clarifying the limits on federal jurisdiction over adjacent wetlands.

The EPA said the new WOTUS rule considers seasonal and geographic variability by including waters that flow uninterrupted throughout the wetter months.

Read more on DTN:

"EPA Concludes Hearings on WOTUS Rule," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

"Aggies, Enviros Divided on WOTUS Rule," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

"SCOTUS Sides With Sacketts in CWA Case," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

"What Does Ag Really Want in WOTUS Rule?," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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