A federal judge in Arizona tossed out the Trump Administration’s limited definition of federally-protected US water bodies, saying that it has “fundamental, substantive flaws that cannot be cured" and that its use could cause significant harm.
The court ruling orders that the Trump-revised Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which had vastly altered definitions of Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) that eased some project requirements set by the Obama Administration in 2015, no longer can be used even as the current US Environmental Protection Agency rewrites the mandate.