WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday aimed at rolling back one of former President Barack Obama’s major environmental regulations to protect American waterways,
but it will have almost no immediate legal effect, according to two people familiar with the White House plans.
The order will essentially give Mr. Trump a megaphone to direct his new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott
Pruitt, to begin the complicated legal process of rewriting the sweeping 2015 rule known as Waters of the United States.
In the coming week, Mr. Trump is also expected to sign a similar order instructing Mr. Pruitt to begin the process of withdrawing
and revising Mr. Obama’s signature 2015 climate-change regulation, aimed at curbing emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, which has led the legal fight against Mr. Obama’s rule, contends
that it places an undue burden on farmers in particular, who may find themselves required to apply for federal permits to use fertilizer near ditches and streams on their property that may eventually flow into larger rivers.
It just signals that the president wants it to happen.”
Still, Mr. Pruitt, who was confirmed by the Senate to his new position this month, is expected to enthusiastically
dive in to the lengthy task of undoing major environmental rules on clean water, climate change and air pollution.
