The Trump administration on Friday took another step toward stripping federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands, which help filter drinking water for many communities and provide critical habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife. The proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would significantly narrow the definition of “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, that are protected from harmful pollution under the Clean Water Act of 1972. The new version is more sweeping than an initial proposal released in November, which would have removed federal protections from fewer wetlands nationwide.

Related:

• FOX5/KUSI (San Diego): EPA seeks more public comments as it struggles to devise water rule that limits scope on wetlands
• Outdoor Life: EPA to reopen comment on Clean Water Act rewrite that could leave 80 percent of U.S. wetlands unprotected
• Bloomberg Law: EPA waters proposal seen as sharply reducing wetlands protection