On November 17, 2025, the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“the agencies”) jointly announced a proposed rule to dramatically restrict which bodies of water are protected by the safeguards of the Clean Water Act.  The new proposal would substantially weaken the Clean Water Act, one of the Nation’s most effective natural resource laws.

Opportunity for public comment on this new proposal is now open.  The comment period will close on Monday, January 5th at 11:59p Eastern.  

The agencies' proposal would strip federal Clean Water Act protections from millions of stream miles in the country - streams that contribute to the drinking water supplies of more than 117 million Americans and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat that support a robust outdoor recreation economy worth over $1 trillion. The proposed rule would also reduce or eliminate protection for millions of acres of wetlands, a critical part of functioning watersheds, including groundwater recharge, pollution filtration, as well as protecting communities from flooding. 

 In eliminating these protections, the proposed rule would deregulate a host of development activities, such as pipeline construction that will, over time, degrade hunting and fishing opportunities in every state in the country.

Stand up for Clean Water.
The Clean Water Act is vital to TU's work and to anglers across the nation. Whether TU is working with farmers to restore small headwater streams in West Virginia, removing acidic pollution caused by abandoned mines in Pennsylvania, or protecting the world-famous salmon-producing, 14,000-jobs-sustaining watershed of Bristol Bay, Alaska, we rely on the Clean Water Act to safeguard our water quality improvements.   

TU members, and sportsmen and women nationwide, want to move forward with progress on cleaning up our nation's waters, not go backwards. Please join us in writing to tell the Agencies that the Clean Water Act needs to be strengthened, not weakened.