The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers has proposed a set of changes to the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule, clarifying which water bodies can be regulated under the Clean Water Act.

Under the new proposal, groundwater would not be covered by the protections included in the Clean Water Act, nor would streams that only flow after rain events, most roadside or farm ditches, prior converted cropland, stormwater control features and waste treatment systems.

“Our proposal would replace the Obama EPA’s 2015 definition with one that respects the limits of the Clean Water Act and provides states and landowners the certainty they need to manage their natural resources and grow local economies,” EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a news release. “For the first time, we are clearly defining the difference between federally protected waterways and state protected waterways.

"Our simpler and clearer definition would help landowners understand whether a project on their property will require a federal permit or not, without spending thousands of dollars on engineering and legal professionals.”

While many farming and manufacturing groups cheered the move as bringing clarity to the regulated groups, environmental groups labeled the move as a “giveaway to polluters," that would allow unpermitted and unmonitored discharges of pollutants that would eventually make their way to a major river system or other drinking water source.

Alabama was one of 27 states to challenge the 2015 “Waters of the U.S.” rule that was implemented by the Obama administration as overly broad, and said it would allow the EPA to regulate small ditches and ponds. Court battles over the old rule have continued as the new EPA looks to narrow the scope of which bodies of water can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a proposal to repeal the old WOTUS rule in 2017 as the agency worked to create a new rule defining the boundaries of the federal environmental law.

Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan said the new proposed rule would benefit farmers in the state.

"This user-friendly amendment will restore landowners rights,” McMillan said. “The prior rule greatly expanded Washington’s control over local land use. These necessary changes will assist landowners in understanding whether a project needs federal permits, thus saving our producers both time and money.”

Jimmy Parnell, president of the Alabama Farmers' Federation (ALFA), also released a statement supporting the changes.

"The proposed rule is good news for Alabama farmers and restores common sense to Clean Water Act enforcement,” Parnell said. “For several years, farmers, businesses and homeowners have lived under the threat of government intrusion and costly penalties due to overaggressive actions of the Obama-era EPA. We appreciate the Trump administration, current EPA administration, Alabama’s congressional delegation and our state attorneys general for standing by farmers and landowners as we’ve fought back against the WOTUS rule.”

Environmental groups, meanwhile argue the change would allow industries to dump potentially harmful pollutants into ditches or ephemeral streams without any limitations or public notice.

“Big polluters could not have crafted a bigger free pass to dump if they wrote it themselves,” said Blan Holman, managing attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Charleston office. “This administration’s efforts to dismantle the Clean Water Act are a full-frontal assault on one of our country’s most important and longstanding environmental safeguards that has prevented unchecked and unlimited pollution from contaminating our waterways and drinking water sources for nearly 50 years.

"Protecting the South’s waters against pollution is our top priority. In the face of this serious threat, SELC and our partners will fight this dangerous proposal in court.”

The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 60 days. Comments on the proposal should be identified with Docket ID No EPA-HQ-OW-2018-014 and may be submitted online at regulations.gov.

The EPA has set up an informational site on the proposal at epa.gov/wotus-rule.