“For the first time, we are clearly defining the difference between federally protected waterways and state protected waterways," EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in the release. The rollback comes on the heels of other major moves by the Trump administration to reduce environmental regulations. Environmental groups called the proposed overhaul of federal water protections one of the biggest attacks ever on the aims of the 1972 Clean Water Act, the foundational U.S. water protection law. "The Trump administration has just given a big Christmas gift to polluters," said Bob Irvin, president of the American Rivers environmental nonprofit. The Trump administration looked chiefly at court rulings rather than environmental impacts in redoing the regulations, said David Ross, assistant EPA administrator for water.

Source: Fox News December 12, 2018 00:33 UTC