Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Share On facebook Share Share On pinterest Pin EPA head Scott Pruitt at a June press briefing. A rule expanding federal protection to thousands of streams, wetlands, and small waterways, many of which feed into drinking water sources across the US, is effectively dead. The Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the Department of Army and Army Corps of Engineers, on Tuesday proposed rescinding the 2015 Clean Water Rule, which expanded the definition of US waterways that are federally protected and regulated. There will be a public comment period before the rule’s fate is sealed. President Donald Trump ordered the agencies to review the rule in February, calling it a “horrible, horrible rule” and “a massive power grab.” Trump campaigned on killing the rule. One impact of killing this rule is that it throws the regulatory landscape of US waterways back into pre-2015 chaos. The rule was crafted by the Obama administration to explicitly address public, industry, and regulatory confusion over which waterways were actually protected under the Clean Water Act, and it was finalized following hundreds of stakeholder meetings and public hearings on the issue. Agriculture and energy groups protested the resulting rule, arguing it was too restrictive and burdensome. Following legal challenges, including one involving…