Trump administration rolls back Obama-era water protections

Wetlands near New Orleans.
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Trump administration announced on Thursday it is repealing the Waters of the United States rule, a 2015 measure that limited the amount of pollutants that could be used near streams and wetlands.

It's the latest environmental rule either repealed or curtailed by President Trump's Environmental Protection Agency, and now, pollutants will not need to have a permit to release chemical pesticides and fertilizers into about 60 percent of the country's waterways, The New York Times reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.