Federal bill would strip Clean Water Act protections from seasonal streams and groundwater

What does this do?

HR 3898 rewrites the legal definition of "navigable waters" under the Clean Water Act to exclude specific categories of water from federal oversight. Those excluded categories include groundwater, ephemeral streams that only flow after rain, wastewater treatment ponds, and farmland converted from wetlands before 1985. The bill also grants the EPA Administrator and the Army Corps of Engineers authority to exclude additional water features in the future.

Who does it affect?

Farmers, landowners, and developers are most directly affected, since they would no longer need federal permits to discharge into or fill certain bodies of water on or near their property. Environmental regulators and state governments would also be affected, as states would need to decide whether to fill gaps in protection through their own laws.

Why does it matter?

Removing these water categories from federal protection reduces the permitting requirements that currently apply to activities like construction, farming, and development near wetlands or seasonal streams. Residents who rely on well water or downstream drinking water sources may see impacts depending on how groundwater and seasonal streams connect to larger water supplies in their area.

Where does it stand?