Environmental Defense Fund filed 2 comments on this docket between Nov 24, 2025 and Jan 8, 2026. 271 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 204d ago.
The comments from Environmental Defense Fund are attached as "EDF_Proposed_WOTUS_Rule_Comments_1_5_2026.pdf". Additional open-source documents cited within the comments are also attached.
Wetlands are extremely important, not just for their environmental and economic value, but also for their recreational value and ability to protect us from flooding. I don't want to see the beauty and value of wetlands in my home state removed for the sake of pollution and development. Wetlands protection is very important to me, as wetlands: · Ensure that we have clean drinking water by filtering pollution from our waterways. Nearly all voters (96%) say protecting the health and safety of drinking water and the water in our nation's lakes, streams and rivers is important · Recharge the water sources farmers depend on. · Provide habitat for recreationally and commercially important wildlife, including 75% of commercially harvested fish and shellfish species in the US. · Save far more in taxpayer dollars than traditional water treatment. · Act as natural flood buffers, protecting vital communities and reducing the cost of disaster response. Just one acre of wetlands can store up to 1.5 million acres of flood water. · Sequester and store carbon. Losing wetlands releases large amounts of stored carbon that took hundreds or thousands of years to accumulate. Many homes that experience flooding were built on former wetlands, and I am concerned about the increased flood risk that further rolling back wetlands' protections could create. Allowing them to be developed without mitigation leads to more costs to taxpayers, devastating property losses, threatens clean water and makes water bills more expensive. I, as a concerned citizen, urge you to preserve existing protections for wetlands and ensure that the EPA prevents further rollback of these safeguards that are critical for the health and safety of our waterways, wildlife and people.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Army are undertaking a rulemaking to revise the regulations defining the scope of waters federally covered under the Clean Water Act in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, 598 U.S. 651 (2023). With this proposed rule, the agencies intend to provide greater regulatory certainty and increase Clean Water Act program predictability and consistency by clarifying the definition of “waters of the United States.” Related Dockets: EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0093; EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0602; EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0346
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