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In the sections below we provide a list of resources to contextualize the rule, as well as information to write and submit your own public comments
For an overview of the proposed rule, we invite you to read EDGI’s blog “EPA and Army Corps Seek Additional Comments on Proposed Water Rule That Goes Against Established Science” here.
The Federal Register is the official daily publication of the U.S. federal government. All proposed and final rules are required to be published in the Federal Register. When writing a public comment, the proposed rule is the most critical document to read thoroughly, since your public comment is in response to this document. The best place to start is the “Background” or “Introduction” section, as those sections of proposed rules provide useful information about the history of an issue and the agency’s assertion about its authority or responsibility to (de)regulate it, and they often provide information about assumptions that may underlie the proposed rule.
The Federal Register notice for this proposed rule can be found here:
Historical amendments and revisions are all linked below:
| Proposed Updated Definition (November 2025) | Federal Register :: Updated Definition of “Waters of the United States” |
|---|---|
| Amended Rule (January 2023) | Federal Register :: Revised Definition of “Waters of the United States”; Conforming |
| Revised Rule (January 2018) | Federal Register :: Revised Definition of “Waters of the United States” |
| Clean Water Rule (June 2015) | Federal Register :: Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States” |
- How to define “perennial” in the regulatory text consistent with the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule.
- How to define “relatively permanent” waters
- How to define “continuous surface connection”
- Whether to revise the current category of jurisdictional waters for adjacent wetlands to include only wetlands that are indistinguishably part of a traditional navigable water, territorial seas, jurisdictional impoundment, or jurisdictional tributary. This would result in deleting the definition of “adjacent.”
The docket on regulations.gov is the home for documents relevant to a rule, including the proposed or final rule itself, technical supporting documentation, regulatory or other impact analyses, and other documents the rulemaking working group deems necessary. Public comments that have already been submitted can also be found in the rule’s docket. Anyone can submit a public comment digitally through the docket on regulations.gov.
The docket for this proposed rule can be found in Docket ID EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0322-15447 at Regulations.gov, here: