Obama’s Administration DID go overboard and basically declared any damp ground within miles of ANY drainage as being under purview / control of the Federal Government EPA and associated agencies. This Obama action(s) were done as Executive Orders, Agency Rulings and Regulation expansion, NOT as explicit new Laws passed by Congressional Legislation.
Now the AP clutches at its pearls as all of the environmental groups rant at what horrors will result from Trump’s actions. Yes, his actions MIGHT swing further than what Obama had done BUT there has been a lot done over the decades by the EPA that has frankly exceeded its establishing legislation. Some pruning is almost certainly called for.
Consider this as a thought experiment, if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were to fully implement what its name signifies, would not its efforts be to exterminate any and all human interactions with the environment. FYI: there is a LEO section of the EPA and they are armed with automatic weapons, why does that make me frown?
It was called “WOTUS”, Waters of the United States. It would make any land that has a pond or a creek worthless. The WOTUS made any standing or moving water a navigable waterway, giving them jurisdiction of it. It would have been a massive asset destroying over reach by the Feds.
Another gift from Obama and his party.