{"id":39318,"date":"2025-04-22T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=39318"},"modified":"2025-04-23T05:28:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T05:28:44","slug":"stripping-federal-protection-for-clean-water-harms-just-about-everyone-especially-already-vulnerable-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/stripping-federal-protection-for-clean-water-harms-just-about-everyone-especially-already-vulnerable-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Stripping federal protection for clean water harms just about everyone, especially already vulnerable communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jeremy Orr<\/a>, Michigan State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Congress passed the Clean Water Act<\/a> in 1972, U.S. factories and cities could pipe their pollution directly into waterways. Rivers, including the Potomac in Washington, smelled of raw sewage<\/a> and contained toxic chemicals. Ohio\u2019s Cuyahoga River was so contaminated, its oil slicks erupted in flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That unchecked pollution didn\u2019t just harm the rivers and their ecosystems; it harmed the humans who relied on their water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Clean Water Act established a federal framework<\/a> \u201cto restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation\u2019s waters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an attorney and law professor<\/a>, I\u2019ve spent my career upholding these protections and teaching students about their legal and historical significance. That\u2019s why I\u2019m deeply concerned about the federal government\u2019s new efforts to roll back those safeguards and the impact they\u2019ll have on human lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Firemen
A fire of an oil slick on the Cuyahoga River swept through docks at the Great Lakes Towing Company site in Cleveland in 1952, one of several times that pollution in the river caught fire. Bettman\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amid all the changes out of Washington, it can be easy to lose sight of not only which environmental policies and regulations are being rolled back, but also of who is affected. The reality is that communities already facing pollution and failing infrastructure can become even more vulnerable<\/a> when federal protections are stripped away. Those laws are ultimately meant to protect the quality of the tap water<\/a> people drink and the rivers they fish in<\/a>, and in the long-term health of their neighborhoods<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few of the most pressing concerns in my view include the government\u2019s moves to narrow federal water protections, pause water infrastructure investments and retreat from environmental enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diminishing protection for US wetlands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of \u201cwaters of the United States<\/a>.\u201d In its decision in Sackett vs. Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>, the court determined that only wetlands that maintained a physical surface connection to other federally protected waters qualified for protection under the Clean Water Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wetlands are important for water quality in many areas. They naturally filter pollution from water, reduce flooding in communities and help ensure that millions of Americans<\/a> enjoy cleaner drinking water. The Clean Water Act limits what industries and farms can discharge or dump into those waterways considered \u201cwaters of the U.S.\u201d However, mapping by the Natural Resources Defense Council<\/a> found that upward of 84%, or 70 million acres, of the nation\u2019s wetlands lacked protection after the ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sackett ruling also called into question the definition of \u201cwaters of the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump EPA, in announcing its plans to rewrite the definition in 2025, said it would make accelerating economic opportunity a priority<\/a> by reducing \u201cred tape\u201d and costs for businesses. Statements from the administration suggest that officials want to loosen restrictions on industries<\/a> discharging pollution and construction debris into wetlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fish
Toxic algae blooms fueled by farm, urban and industrial runoff can trigger fish kills and shut down beaches for days, harming tourism businesses. Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pollution already harms wetlands along Florida\u2019s Gulf Coast, leading to fewer fish and degraded water quality<\/a>. It also affects people whose jobs depend on healthy waterways for fishing, recreation and tourism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This marks a shift away from the federal government protecting wetlands for the role they play in public health and resilience. Instead, it prioritizes development and industry \u2013 even if that means more pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pausing investment for rebuilding crumbling infrastructure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Public water systems are also at risk. The Trump administration on its first full day in office froze at least US$10 billion in federal water infrastructure funding<\/a>. That included money for replacing lead pipes and building new water treatment plants, allocated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law<\/a> of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act<\/a> of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public water systems across the country have been falling into disrepair in recent decades due to aging and sometimes dangerous infrastructure, as cities with lead water pipes have discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation\u2019s drinking water, stormwater and wastewater infrastructure grades of a C-minus, D and D-plus, respectively, in its 2025 Infrastructure Report Card<\/a>. The group estimates that America\u2019s drinking water systems alone need more than $625 billion in investment over the next 20 years to reach a state of good repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jackson
Jackson, Miss., volunteers distributed bottled water to residents in 2022 after the aging water system failed. AP Photo\/Steve Helber<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congress passed the Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to help pay for updating drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems. That included replacing lead pipes and tackling water contamination, especially in the most vulnerable communities. Many of the same communities also have high poverty and unemployment rates and histories of racial segregation rooted in government discrimination<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where I live in Detroit, this need is especially clear. We have the fourth-highest number of lead service lines<\/a>, connecting water mains to buildings, of any city in the country, and these pipes continue to put people at risk every day. Just an hour up the road, the Flint water crisis<\/a> left a predominantly Black, working-class community to suffer the consequences of lead-contaminated water<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aren\u2019t abstract problems; they\u2019re happening right now, in real communities, to real people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dropping lawsuits meant to stop pollution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration\u2019s decision to drop<\/a> from some environmental enforcement lawsuits filed by previous administrations is adding to the risks that communities face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration argues that these decisions are about reducing regulatory burdens<\/a> \u2013 dropping these lawsuits reduces costs for companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, stepping back from these lawsuits leaves the communities without a meaningful way to put an end to the long-standing harms of environmental pollution. Few communities have the resources to litigate against private polluters and must rely on regulatory agencies to sue on their behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real lives are affected by these changes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What America is seeing now is more than a change in regulatory approach. It\u2019s a step back from decades of progress that made the nation\u2019s water safer and communities healthier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump talked repeatedly on the campaign trail about wanting clean air and clean water<\/a>. However, the administration\u2019s moves to reduce protection for wetlands, freeze infrastructure investments and abandon environmental enforcement can have real consequences for both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when so many systems are already under strain, it raises the question: What kind of commitment is the federal government really making to the future of clean water in America?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremy Orr<\/a>, Adjunct Professor of Law, Michigan State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeremy Orr, Michigan State University Before Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, U.S. factories and cities could pipe their pollution directly into waterways. Rivers, including the Potomac in Washington, smelled of raw sewage and contained toxic chemicals. Ohio\u2019s Cuyahoga River was so contaminated, its oil slicks erupted in flames. That unchecked pollution didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":39319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15306,46,42,295,10,296,4],"tags":[2699,139,2894,479,2770,156,4361,885,891,886,860,14506,236,1602,2700,1666,6375],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39320,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39318\/revisions\/39320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}