EPA claims 'no data' on impact of weakening water rule. But the numbers exist

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration says it doesn't know how many streams it is proposing to exclude from Clean Water Act jurisdiction today.

But a 2017 slideshow prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers staff shows that at least 18% of streams and 51% of wetlands nationwide would not be protected under the new definition of "waters of the United States," or WOTUS, announced today.

The slides, obtained by E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), contradict what EPA Office of Water chief Dave Ross told reporters on a press call previewing the new rule late yesterday.

"If you see percentages of water features that are claimed to be in, or reductions, there really isn't the data to support those statistics," Ross said. "No one has that data."

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/12/epa-claims-no-data-impact-weakening-water-rule-numbers-exist?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WYM-12122018&utm_content=WYM-12122018+CID_ad539ce15286f1e6cdb38bfdb5b55407&utm_source=campaignmonitor%20outsidemagazine&utm_term=calling%20the%20EPAs%20bluff