The Environmental Protection Agency is developing a more durable definition of Waters of the United States. The agency wants to provide certainty to agriculture, but EPA Administrator Michael Regan says there is a fine line to walk. “How do you protect the environment, provide farmers certainty, follow the science and the law, but do it in a way where it’s implementable?” This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on the WOTUS rule, which could alter any new definition EPA creates. Regan acknowledges the EPA is trying to walk and chew gum at the same time. “In certain states, the map was completely blue in one administration. In another administration, the map was completely red. We have to find what’s just right. We want a respectful relationship with states on the implementation and execution of the Clean Water Act. It is not simple at all.”
