Regulatory Radar
Waters of the United States (WOTUS)

Ten Things to Know About the Proposed 2025 WOTUS Rule

What Happened

On November 20, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a pre-publication of a Proposed Rule further refining the definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS) to conform with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA issued on May 25, 2023. As stated in the EPA’s factsheet, the Proposed WOTUS Rule:

“…would fully implement the Court’s direction by ensuring federal jurisdiction is focused on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water—such as streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes—and wetlands that are connected and indistinguishable from such waterbodies.”

The definition of WOTUS has been debated since the adoption of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972. Over several decades, regulatory agencies and courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have made numerous efforts to interpret the jurisdictional reach of WOTUS under the CWA.

More information about the rule is available on the EPA’s webpage: Updated Definition of Waters of the United States.

SWCA Lens

Read SWCA’s list of 10 things you should know about the Proposed WOTUS Rule.

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