"A rule published by the Trump administration removed protections for 21 percent of streams and 25 percent of wetlands that otherwise could have received federal protection, new research has found.

The protections removed under the 2020 rule amounted to a deregulation of 690,000 stream miles and 35 million wetland acres, according to a paper published in the journal Science.

The exact impacts of the rule were previously unclear because while federal regulations can set guidelines for whether certain bodies of water get protections, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis using those guidelines by the Army Corps of Engineers.

However, since 2020, the political and legal landscape governing water regulations has changed."

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill January 25, 2024. [2]