Attorney General Bonta Slams Trump Administration’s Attempt to Further Dismantle Safeguards for Nation’s Waters

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today led a multistate coalition of 18 attorneys general in sending a comment letter opposing a proposed rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) that would significantly reduce federal protections for streams and wetlands nationwide. The rule at issue — entitled the “Updated Definition of Waters of the United States” rule — would limit the scope of the “waters of the United States” that are subject to pollution discharge permits and other important safeguards under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta asserts that the proposed rule is unlawful, represents a significant backslide in federal water quality regulation, and would result in further degradation of California’s waters and waters across the country. 

“It should not be too much to ask that the Environmental Protection Agency fulfill the mission in its name by protecting our waters,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Now more than ever, we need to ensure robust safeguards for all our waterways, and the people and ecosystems that rely on them. I urge this Administration to course-correct and abandon this unlawful rulemaking.” 

The CWA was intended “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” along with establishing uniform federal water quality protections applicable to all states, in recognition of the fact that waters cross state boundaries and downstream states often have no ability to regulate the pollution that may originate upstream. This is achieved through the CWA’s core programs, including the prohibition on discharges of pollutants to “navigable waters” and “waters of the United States.” For decades, EPA’s and the Army Corps’ regulations interpreted “waters of the United States” broadly to maximize federal protection of waters nationwide. Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, which considered the scope of “waters of the United States” in relation to wetlands, the EPA and Army Corps promulgated in September 2023 a revised regulatory definition that conformed with the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion. 

The current proposed rule seeks to unlawfully limit “waters of the United States” to deprive of protections many waters that are vitally important for water quality, creating ambiguity and confusion, rather than promoting a clear definition that is consistent with the CWA’s purpose, science, and U.S. Supreme Court caselaw. If finalized, the proposed rule would harm states’ water quality and protection programs by removing “interstate waters” as a category of “waters of the United States,” and including irrational and legally-flawed definitions for other key terms that determine the law’s applicability to different water bodies, including “relatively permanent,” “continuous surface connection,” and “ditches.”

In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition assert that the proposed rule:

• Conflicts with the Clean Water Act’s objective and text and is inconsistent with applicable caselaw.  
• Flouts the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act because it is contrary to the law and proposes numerous revisions to the existing regulatory definition of “waters of the United States,” including various terms in the definition that are arbitrary and capricious and without rational basis.   

Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting California’s waterways and diverse ecosystems. He has co-led a multistate coalition in opposing proposed rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act and joined a multistate coalition opposing the EPA’s proposal to weaken reporting requirements for manufacturers of PFAS, toxic “forever chemicals” found in many U.S. waterways. He has also led a multistate coalition in supporting the Biden Administration EPA’s proposed rule to reduce water pollution from meat and poultry processing facilities and co-led a coalition to defend the Biden Administration’s rule under Section 401 of the CWA.  

In sending this letter, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Rhode Island, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New York, Illinois, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Massachusetts, Delaware, District of Columbia, City of New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Colorado, Wisconsin.