New federal water protections hailed, criticized

WASHINGTON - New rules advanced by the Obama administration to clarify federal protection of streams and wetlands - the source of drinking water for 117 million Americans - have prompted criticism by Republicans, farm and construction groups for going too far.

Environmental ranks are split on the rules, which were hailed by some as a victory for clean water a but faulted by two hard-hitting green groups for rolling back the reach of the Clean Water Act and removing a layer of protection for endangered North Coast salmon.

An Environmental Protection Agency official said the rules would not resolve controversy over seasonal pools that shelter amphibians and other wildlife. For years, such features have loomed as a potential roadblocks to Sonoma County land development.

“It’s still a case-by-case determination” as to whether a vernal pool is protected by the federal law, said Suzanne Skadowski of the EPA office in San Francisco.

House Speaker John Boehner declared the rules will send “landowners, small businesses, farmers, and manufacturers on the road to a regulatory and economic hell.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation has led opposition to the rules, saying they could make business more difficult for farmers. The Sonoma County Farm Bureau did not return a call Wednesday.

Keith Woods of the North Coast Builders Exchange said he had not read the rules but said “for our industry it can’t be anything good.”

EPA officials said the regulations don’t create any new permitting requirements for agriculture or change private property rights.