EPA Moves To Decimate Clean Water Protections With Support From the Farm Bureau

In a single day, Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has spearheaded an institutional reversal of longstanding U.S. environmental policies in what he calls “31 historic actions.” From questioning the well established finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to health to eradicating Clean Water Act provisions, the deregulation blitz could lead to increased pollution and risk to public health, environmental groups warn. “We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” said EPA Administrator Zeldin.

Weakening Water Quality Laws Garners Support From Farm Lobby

One controversial action is a set of proposed changes to the Clean Water Act, established in 1972 to regulate pollutants in U.S. waters and prevent contamination from industries like factory farms and mineral mining. In a 2023 Supreme Court decision, Sackett v. EPA, the Court narrowed the definitions of protected waters to exclude certain wetlands unconnected to “navigable” waterways. Although Biden’s EPA revised protections to include this ruling, Zeldin argues his predecessors “failed to follow the law and implement the Supreme Court’s clear holding in Sackett.” He now seeks to further deregulate waterway protections.

“The previous Administration’s definition of ‘waters of the United States’ placed unfair burdens on the American people and drove up the cost of doing business,” Zeldin said on Wednesday.

For states like Iowa where roughly half of water bodies are polluted (thanks in part to the 109 billion pounds of animal manure produced each year by factory farms in the state), the Clean Water Act already doesn’t do enough to protect water as it stands, David Cwiertny, professor of civil engineering and director for the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa, tells Sentient. It fails to meaningfully address non-point source pollution, and exempts major pollutant sources like subsurface agricultural drainage, he says.

“As a result, analyses have shown that Iowa has among some of the worst water quality in the nation based on impaired stream miles and lake area under the Clean Water Act. These impairments have endangered public drinking water supplies while also limiting recreational water access for Iowans,” says Cwiertny.

The EPA’s latest announcement may make matters worse. “It’s hard to see water quality in Iowa improving with the proposed plans to rework WOTUS, which will most likely end up further reducing the number of water bodies protected by the Act,” Cwiertny says.

Zeldin credited concerns from farmers and ranchers as a factor to the change, as attendee American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said he was pleased with the decision, stating it provides clarity for farmers and will help them “protect the environment while ensuring they can grow the food America’s families rely on.”

Stacy Woods, research director for the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said the EPA is “giving a green light” for industrial agriculture to pollute and drain valuable wetlands. “Big Ag interest groups like the Farm Bureau pretend to represent small family farms when they are really working for giant industrial agricultural companies who could not care less about draining, polluting and flooding rural America in service of their bottom line. Missing from this conversation are the voices of farmers who are invested in being good stewards of their land and who are actually part of the rural communities that benefit from wetlands,” Woods said in a statement.

Crackdowns on Environmental Pollutant Regulations Will Have an Outsized Impact on Vulnerable Communities

Water wasn’t the only thing on the agenda, as oil and gas regulations are also under scrutiny, along with clean air standards and termination of the “Good Neighbor” rule that requires states to manage their own pollution that can be blown into nearby states.

“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin today announced plans for the greatest increase in pollution in decades. The result will be more toxic chemicals, more cancers, more asthma attacks, and more dangers for pregnant women and their children. Rather than helping our economy, it will create chaos,” Amanda Leland, Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Fund said in a statement.

Ending or revoking such regulations means fewer protections for communities with high numbers of low socioeconomic status residents. Pollution also disproportionately impacts Black and Hispanic communities, due in part to historical practices like redlining, which meant rejecting financial services to those looking to move to a residential area, often based on race or ethnicity. This practice, as well as ongoing pollution and other inequities, leads to concentration of vulnerable communities near hazardous pollution sources. Research shows these communities have higher rates of asthma and poor mental health. The EPA also plans to shut down its climate justice offices across the country whose primary focus is to help those most affected by the burdens of pollution and climate change.

These latest policy moves are likely to be met with legal action from both sides; environmental groups have already promised to “vigorously oppose” Zeldin’s “attack” on public health while Trump’s FBI pledged to criminally charge climate groups who received funding from the Biden administration.

“Though [these actions] will not hold up in the face of science or the court of law, they already pose grave and immediate threats to people and the environment,” ​​Dr. Rachel Cleetus, the policy director with the Climate and Energy Program at the UCS, said.