Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 10/29/19

The EPA last week finalized its rollback of the Obama administration's WOTUS regulations, handing a long-sought victory to farmers, developers and other industries that viewed the sweeping environmental rules as an overreach. But while the Trump administration crafts a replacement, federal regulators are forced to revert to a 1986 policy that gives Washington much broader authority over small creeks and far-flung wetlands, reports Pro Energy's Annie Snider.

The WOTUS repeal was met with a pair of lawsuits, one from each side of the issue. Environmental groups claimed the EPA failed to justify the new rule or analyze its full impact. And the Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, arguing that putting the 1980s rules back on the book poses the same problems for industries as the original WOTUS rule itself.

Repeal and replace: The EPA is working to finalize a "replacement" rule with a narrow definition of which streams and wetlands are subject to federal regulations. But legal experts predict that second piece of the agency's effort will get caught in the courts. That means the 33-year-old regulations could remain the law of the land for years to come.