#cleanwateract — Public Fediverse posts

#EPA Rule Would Drastically Curb Protections for #Wetlands

The proposal could strip federal protections from most U.S. wetlands, some of which feed drinking water systems.

Maxine Joselow
By Maxine Joselow
Reporting from the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington
Nov. 17, 2025

"The Trump administration proposed on Monday to significantly limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit pollution in wetlands, rivers and other bodies of water across the country.

"The proposed rule could strip federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands and streams, potentially threatening sources of clean drinking water for millions of Americans. It was a victory for a range of business interests that have lobbied to scale back the #CleanWaterAct of 1972, including farmers, home builders, #RealEstateDevelopers, oil drillers and #petrochemical manufacturers."

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/climate/epa-curbs-protections-for-wetlands.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/KEbdk

#WaterIsLife #USPol #SacrificeZone #SacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #EPAFail #Industries #IndustrialUse
#Mining #PollutionSacrificeZones #GreedKills #CapitalismKills #CapitalismMustDie

https://www.texasobserver.org/brazos-river-development-pollution-drifting-toward-disaster/

>What’s more, Dow-Freeport is operating with a wastewater permit that expired in 2019 but has been “administratively continued” by TCEQ, according to an agency spokesperson. That means Dow is allowed to follow outdated rules while a TCEQ review of the facility’s new draft permit drags on.
>
>“It is concerning that this is coming up on five years, which is, frankly, the length of time a new permit would have been,” said Josh Kratka, a senior staff attorney at the National Environmental Law Center. While Kratka doesn’t know what’s transpiring between Dow and TCEQ specifically, he explained that many companies try to convince regulators that they can’t reasonably comply with pollution limits in order to delay enforcement. “Rather than really crack down, enforcing a solution quickly, the regulators just give them more time,” he said.

This article was written in 2023. So far as I can tell, the permit in question, WQ0000007000, was originally granted in 1978. Its latest "approval date" is from 2016, and its latest "expiration date" is... STILL 2019. And yet the permit is still "active" rather than expired.

You can check at: https://www6.tceq.texas.gov/wqpaq/index.cfm

Put in "WQ0000007000" for the State Permit No., click Add, then click Search.

(Sidenote: still using ColdFusion? In 2025? Damn).

Ouch.

#TexasObserver @TexasObserver #BrazosRiver #Brazos #Brazoria #Texas #TCEQ #FreePort #CleanWaterAct #CleanWater