WASHINGTON — A federal judge has thrown out a Trump-era rule that ended federal protections for hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways and left them vulnerable to pollution from nearby development.
According to an earlier review by the Biden administration, the Trump rule allowed more than 300 projects to proceed without the federal permits required under the Obama-era rule. The review also found the Trump rule significantly curtailed clean water protections in states such as New Mexico and Arizona.
Also affected are developers and other businesses that stood to benefit from regulatory and financial relief under the Trump rule. Advocates for less restrictive federal regulation say protection of waterways should be left to states.
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