EPA Rule Change Could Leave Your Drinking Water Unprotected

Clean water is not a commodity, a luxury, or red tape. It is a basic physiological prerequisite for human life, and every resident of our country deserves affordable, reliable access to it. A landowner’s property rights end where their actions put the public’s health and safety at risk. Just as one person’s choice to smoke does not override another person’s medical need to breathe clean air, no private interest has the right to poison the shared water networks that downstream communities depend on to live. This is an immediate crisis. On September 9, the EPA reopened public comment on a supplemental WOTUS rule that goes significantly beyond the Supreme Court’s 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision. The new proposal strips Clean Water Act protections from any seasonal stream or wetland that dries up for more than 30 days in a given year. By the EPA’s own regulatory analysis, this proposal leaves just 19% of the nation's non-tidal wetlands protected, stripping federal oversight from up to 80% of mapped wetlands and vast networks of headwater streams. Because 24 states rely entirely on the federal CWA definition with no state-level regulatory backstop, millions of residents will be left with zero legal protection against upstream dumping. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claims this rule provides "predictability" for developers, farmers, and energy producers. But hydrology does not respect property lines or regulatory convenience. When seasonal headwaters and wetlands lose protection, pollution dumped upstream does not vanish. It flows directly into municipal reservoirs and drinking water taps, forcing downstream families and local taxpayers to foot the bill for filtration and health consequences while polluters externalize their costs. This is not acceptable. I demand that you take these three immediate legislative actions: 1. Restore Statutory Clean Water Jurisdiction: Introduce and pass legislation establishing clear federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction over interconnected tributaries, seasonal headwaters, and functional wetlands so water quality does not depend on executive rulemaking. 2. Formally Oppose The September 9 Rulemaking: Submit formal public comments and congressional delegation letters opposing the 30-day continuous-flow exclusion and the gutting of wetland protections during the active 30-day comment window. 3. Provide Emergency Infrastructure & Monitoring Funds: Direct federal funding toward municipal water treatment facilities and state water-monitoring programs, specifically prioritizing the 24 states facing a complete regulatory vacuum. Protecting public drinking water is the most fundamental responsibility of government. Allowing an administrative rule to quietly transfer pollution costs onto downstream communities is an abdication of that duty. I expect you to act immediately to defend our water.