A quick search on the Internet reveals the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed roughly 2,800 new regulations since 2009, when the current administration took office. While most regulations have likely met with some level of disapproval, it is probably fair to say the recently proposed rule defining the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA) has been the most widely criticized rule proposed by the agency since the current administration assumed control over the executive branch.
Despite the agency’s assurance that the proposed rule does not protect any waters that have not historically been protected, it has met serious resistance from numerous groups, including a bipartisan contingent of U.S. representatives and senators.