U.S Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, along with other lawmakers, joined Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a meeting about how the agency will issue regulations regarding wetlands.

Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil that are subject to regulations by the EPA. In the Sackett case in 2023, the U.S Supreme Court ordered the EPA to write new regulations to define wetlands. In an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Boozman said the EPA, in previous years, has been too broad with defining a wetland.

“The Constitution is very clear that the federal government has jurisdiction over navigable waters,” Boozman told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Through the years, we have a situation where that navigable water has turned into almost any body of water at present.”

Proponents of the Sackett decision argue that less bodies of water will be protected by the Clean Water Act. In a study by the Environmental Law Institute, the institute found that 24 states rely entirely on the Clean Water Act to regulate pollution of its waterways. Arkansas is one of the 24 states in that category.

Boozman said farmers have approached him about the confusion surrounding the lack of clarity on what the EPA defines as a wetland.

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