Trump deregulated nearly 21 percent of streams, 25 percent of wetlands: Research

A new study finds that rules announced by the Trump administration removed protections for 21 percent of streams and 25 percent of wetlands that would otherwise receive federal protection.

The protections removed under the 2020 rule amounted to deregulation of 690,000 river miles and 35 million acres of wetlands, according to a published paper. Published in Science magazine.

Although federal regulations can set guidelines on whether particular waters are protected, the exact impact of the regulations has been unclear until now because decisions are made on a case-by-case basis by the Army Corps of Engineers based on those guidelines. Ta.

However, since 2020, the political and legal landscape governing water regulation has changed.

The Biden administration sought to protect more waters than its predecessor, but a 2023 Supreme Court ruling limited that ability.

The Biden administration has enacted new rules implementing the court's ruling.

But study author Joseph Shapiro said the early results of decisions made under the new framework are “similar” to those under the Trump administration.

Shapiro also said the methodology used in the study could be used in the future to understand how many streams and wetlands are protected under the updated framework.

The study used machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence that identifies patterns and makes predictions from computer data, to predict which bodies of water are regulated.