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EPA, Army Corps Takes a Further Step to Redefine WOTUS

By NAM NewsroomSeptember 16, 2026

The administration has made another move to redefine “waters of the United States” (POLITICO Pro, subscription).

What’s going on: In “a major leap forward for energy companies, farmers, housing developers and other industries,” the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Sept. 4 released a supplemental proposal responding to comments submitted by the NAM that could further right-size the scope of what qualifies as a WOTUS and what projects need federal permits.

  • The draft supplemental proposal is additive to last year’s original proposal and seeks public feedback on “waters of the United States,” a phrase used in the 1972 Clean Water Act to determine which waterways or wetlands should come under federal jurisdiction.
  • The proposal builds on one the EPA and Army Corps laid out in November 2025 and is narrower in scope than the one the Supreme Court called for in its NAM-backed 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA.
  • That ruling found that the EPA only had jurisdiction over wetlands with “continuous surface connection” to navigable waters.

Defining key terms: “The latest proposal focuses on several key terms used to determine federal jurisdiction, including ‘relatively permanent’ waters and wetlands with a ‘continuous surface connection’ to other jurisdictional waters” (Texas Farm Bureau).

  • The two agencies are deciding whether “relatively permanent” waters should, in general, “be limited to perennial waters or those that have standing or continuously flowing water throughout the year under ordinary conditions.”

The NAM’s take: The NAM provided substantive comments to improve the original proposal’s “wet season” definition and approach. NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen told POLITICO that the new proposal “looks to be a really positive step forward.”