The Environmental Protection Agency this week formally launched its effort to rescind regulations over certain bodies of water.

The agency is allowing the public to comment on the controversial proposal to repeal the Obama-era rule, which clarifies regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act to protect streams and wetlands.

The Obama administration took action on small bodies of water in 2015 after confusing and complex guidelines resulted from Supreme Court decisions. Polluters escaped fines for violations because of uncertain jurisdiction.

But ranchers and farmers worry that even small ditches and ponds on private property could be subject to federal regulation, raising costs and overall compliance burdens.

“The WOTUS rule was the Obama Administration’s most onerous federal water grab and one of its most egregious acts of executive overreach,” said U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, who has long been fighting against the rule.

“The rule threatened the private property rights of millions of Western water users who rely on access to their water rights for everything from irrigating crops and providing clean and reliable water supplies, to attracting tourism opportunities through recreation. I applaud the EPA and Army Corps for taking action to withdraw this rule for good.”

The EPA has opened a 30-day comment period after first proposing repealing the rule in June, despite some lawmakers asking that it extend the comment period to 90 days.

The rule never took effect because it was put on hold by a federal court.

The Trump administration’s reversal on the rule was expected after President Trump in February signed an executive order directing the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to review the regulation, a move the president described as “paving the way for the elimination of this very destructive and horrible rule.”

Environmental groups, however, say the rule restored federal protections to 73,000 miles of Colorado’s streams, which feed waterways such as the Colorado River and, in some cases, provide drinking water.

“Clean water is not political. It’s not partisan. It’s a basic right in this country,” said Chris Wood, president and chief executive of Trout Unlimited. “We rely on cold, clean water not just for healthy populations of fish and wildlife and drinking water. The health of these streams is also a vital part of the nation’s outdoor economy which provides millions of jobs and generates billions of dollars annually.

“Water runs downhill, gravity works cheap, and it never takes a day off. We all live downstream. This action places the health of our streams and rivers and in turn, our families, jobs and economy, at unacceptable risk.”