Federal Waters Definition to be ‘Adaptive’ to Climate, EPA Says

The ways climate change is altering water bodies both nationally and regionally—as well as the notion of “lived experience"—will factor heavily into the Biden administration’s definition of waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, an EPA official said Wednesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to write a WOTUS definition that will adapt itself to the changing climate, Radhika Fox, EPA assistant administrator for water, said during at a virtual conference of Environmental Council of the States.

The EPA is seeking to answer the question, “How can the WOTUS definition be adaptive, that can really truly meet the great regional variation that ...