Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks after a tour of the Flint water plant on September 14, 2016 in Flint, Michigan.

The Trump administration on Thursday announced a repeal of a major Obama-era clean water regulation that limited the amount of pollution and chemicals in the nation's rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.

The rollback of the Waters of the United States rule was announced by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler at an event in Washington at the headquarters of the National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group that has pushed for its repeal and replacement.

The EPA proposed replacing the 2015 water rule in December after an executive order from President Donald Trump, who has criticized the regulations for curbing the rights of farmers, real estate developers and landowners.

The new rule limits the number of waterways the federal government can protect from pollution, including ditches, storm water control facilities and groundwater systems. It would also limit the government's oversight to larger bodies of water. The repeal could take effect in just a few weeks.

The clean water rollback is the latest in a string of moves by the administration to dismantle major environmental protections against pollutants, from curtailing regulations on methane emissions and energy-efficient light bulbs, to pushing for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Environmental groups condemned the move to weaken water regulations, claiming that loosening restrictions will substantially harm the country's sources of safe drinking water and habitats for wildlife.

The Obama rule was developed to limit pollution in roughly 60% of the country's bodies of water. It gave the federal government the authority to oversee a wide range of lakes, streams and wetlands that connect to large waterways protected under the 1972 Clean Water Act.