The Trump Administration is changing its definition of what qualifies as 'waters of the United States" by rolling back the Clean Water Rule that enhanced protections for wetlands and smaller waterways from pollutes that can come from human involvement. The Environmental Protection Agency announced September 12 that it has finalized a repeal and will create a new rule to replace the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation. The new regulation is expected to cover fewer waterways and weaken existing protections.

Many U.S. businesses have opposed the WOTUS rule since its beginning, arguing that is was overly broad. The National Federation of Independent Business even sued the Obama administration over the ruling, stating that it gave too much federal jurisdiction and took issue that business owners could be fined daily for rule violations.

The Clean Water Rule is a 2015 regulation published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers to clarify water resource management in the U.S. as a provision of the Clean Water Act of 1972. The act of 1972 has the objective of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the U.S. waterways. It did this by recognizing the responsibilities of states in addressing pollution and providing assistance to states to do so; thus ensuring the improvement of waste water treatment and integrity of the nation's wetlands.

A new ruling is set to be finalized this winter.

Nathan Rott, a journalist for NPR, stated that, "The repeal has been anticipated for a long time. Developers, mining companies and farmers painted the regulation as a massive federal overreach. Environmental groups and the Obama administration argued wider protections are needed to protect the nation's complicated water systems from pollution."

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a conference on Thursday noted that many states already have their own protections for waterways.

In response to the federal agency's new policy towards water, Jon Devine, who is the director of federal water policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council stated, "The Trump administration's wild-eyed attempts to reward polluters, however, knows no bounds, so it is repealing these important protections without regard for the law or sound science. This unsubstantiated action is illegal and will certainly be challenged in court."

Many environmentalists fear that a new rule will lead to more pollution and affect American's drinking water, especially in smaller bodies of water what will no longer be protected.