Part 1: AFBF on WOTUS

Waters of the US, known as WOTUS, has a long, complex history as part of the Clean Water Act. Courtney Briggs, Senior Director of Government Affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation, kicks off part one of our three-part series by explaining that while Congress authorized regulation of pollutant discharges into navigable waters, it never clearly defined what qualifies as a water of the US.

“That lack of clarity has driven decades of confusion and debate over the federal government's regulatory reach since the last WOTUS definition proposed by the Trump administration, a major legal shift has taken place. The Supreme Court's decision in Second versus the Environmental Protection Agency significantly narrowed federal authority and reshaped how the rule is interpreted and applied today.”

“That is a decision that was handed down in 2023 and it greatly narrowed the federal government's reach of our private property, and it did that by eliminating a very troubling regulatory test that allowed the agencies to really expand their jurisdictional reach over entire watersheds. So that case was handed down, and now the Trump administration is trying to faithfully implement that Supreme Court decision in their new rule.”

Stay tuned for part two as Briggs walks through the specific regulatory changes.