Comment Letter: Updated Definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS)

public commentsrestoration
Written By Environmental Policy Innovation Center
WOTUS Comment Letter

The Trump Administration published a proposed change to the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) in November of 2025. Overall, we feel that the rule should not be finalized without considering comments on and fully implementing the analytical approaches outlined in the Regulatory Impact Analysis. The current proposed rule does not meet its intent of providing additional clarity or durability of the definition of WOTUS, but will add uncertainty about determining jurisdiction and invite legal challenge.

EPIC’s comment themes are listed below. For more detail, read the full comment letter.

1. Delay Final Revisions Until the Regulatory Impact Analysis is Complete

2. Recommended Data and Approach to Quantify the Change in Permit Activity and Mitigation of Impacts to Wetlands

3. Consider Disruptions to the Restoration Economy

4. Recommended Data and Approach to Estimate the Valuation of Foregone Benefits from Impacts to Non-Jurisdictional Waters

5. Modernize Wetlands Data Infrastructure with Permit-Submitted Data

6. Develop Next-Generation e-Permitting Platform

7. Recommendations Regarding the Definition of Tributary

8. Maintain Flexibility in Mitigation Options

Environmental Policy Innovation Center
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