Data / Federal rules / 2025-20402
Updated Definition of “Waters of the United States”
The Environmental Protection Agency published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on November 20, 2025. Comments closed on January 5, 2026.
SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. It reads every rule and proposed rule in the Federal Register each morning, and this page is that reading. Name your industry once and new rules, comment deadlines and effective dates arrive in your sheet, CRM, Slack or agent as they are published.
What the agency says
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army ("the agencies") are publishing for public comment a proposed rule revising the regulations defining the scope of waters federally covered under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, also known as the Clean Water Act, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. With this proposed rule, the agencies intend to provide greater regulatory certainty and increase Clean Water Act program predictability and consistency by clarifying the definition of "waters of the United States." This proposed rule is also intended to implement the overall objective of the Clean Water Act to restore and maintain the quality of the Nation's waters while respecting State and Tribal authority over their own land and water resources.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2025-20402
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Proposed rule
- Agency
- Defense Department; Engineers Corps; Environmental Protection Agency
- Published
- November 20, 2025
- Comments due
- January 5, 2026
- Dates
- Comments must be received on or before January 5, 2026.
- Docket
- EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0322; FRL 11132.1-01-OW
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 2040-AG44
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 33 CFR 328; 40 CFR 120
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Environmental protection; Navigation (water); Water pollution control; Waterways
- Significant
- Yes, under Executive Order 12866
- Pages
- 49
Other documents from the Environmental Protection Agency
Everything from the Environmental Protection Agency · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on environmental protection · Rules on navigation (water) · Published in November 2025
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.