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The deadline was Jan. 5: comments for or against a new EPA rule that would gut what remains of federal wetlands protections.

Sound Rivers submitted its petition, in addition to signing on to the Southern Environmental Law Center’s technical comments, on Monday.

“We asked the EPA to listen to the valid concerns of stakeholders in the community, and pass an interpretation of this rule that holds the most protections of waterways possible. That means reconsidering and essentially undoing some of the proposed changes in the draft rule, which would be detrimental to wetlands and waterways across the nation,” said Neuse Riverkeeper and Advocacy Director Samantha Krop. “We had 305 signers, so that’s pretty awesome.”

The proposed rule follows the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA — its stated purpose is to bring federal law into compliance with that decision, but for environmentalists across the country, the “Polluted Water Rule” has the potential to go much further in removing protections included in the Clean Water Act, the nation’s bedrock law to protect clean water.

“This rule is essentially shifting protection from the federal government to the states, but the federal government needs to uphold a strong model for waterways, because states like North Carolina are not currently doing their job to uphold protections for our water resources,” Samantha said. “Removing federal protections will lead to a devastating open season on wetlands and headwater streams.”

Samantha said that North Carolina now has an opportunity to step in and pass protections to prevent that harm, if the federal government abdicates responsibility.

“We’ve commented on it, and we hope they listen to our comments,” she said.

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