SPRINGFIELD — As the Trump administration moves to slash federal protections for waterways and wetlands, Illinois Democratic lawmakers and environmental advocates are racing to finally pass a measure that would enact state safeguards.

The Wetlands Protection Act was discussed in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly last year but failed to get traction or make it to the House and Senate floors, partly due to budget constraints in the 2025 budget year.

“I hope things will turn around,” said Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin. “It’s just really important for our ecosystem, for flood control, for water control, for water quality.”

A proposal from the Trump administration adds urgency to a longstanding issue in Illinois. Last November, the federal EPA proposed a new rule to the Clean Water Act that would bestow protection only to wetlands that hold water during the wet season and with visible connections to major waterways. Excluded are seasonal streams, marshes, bogs, swamps and mangrove forests.

Seasonal streams are those wetlands that dry up during certain times of the year.

In a statement outlining the rule changes last year, the EPA said it wanted to cut the red tape and provide predictability, consistency and clarity for American industry, energy producers, the technology sector, farmers, ranchers, developers, businesses and landowners.

Read more: As Illinois session ends, lawmakers’ attempt to reinstate wetland protections fails

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Currently, developers must obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before building over a wetland to ensure environmentally responsible practices.

If the EPA rule change is finalized this year, over two-thirds (707,566 acres) of Illinois’ wetlands would be without protections, according to a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study released in September. Neighboring states like Wisconsin, Missouri and Indiana already have safeguards in place to protect their wetlands, but Illinois does not.

“We need to do something: 90% of our wetlands have already been destroyed in Illinois,’’ Moeller said, “and we need to protect the remaining 10%.”

Senate Bill 2401 would give the Illinois Department of Natural Resources authority over wetland permitting on private land before construction begins. The bill exempts certain agricultural activities like normal farming, silviculture and maintenance of farms and stock ponds

The bill was re-referred for assignment at the end of the last session, and no action has been taken on it this session.

Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, who sponsored the bill, said she is hopeful this will be the year the state Wetlands Protection Act becomes law. “We had tough budget years, which in short means other topics receive great priority,” Ellman said in an email statement.

“I believe that as we continue to lay out the case for Senate Bill 2401 and other environment-related legislation, the push to take action now is stronger than ever. As you know, actions speak louder than words.”

Does bill have governor’s support?

Still, Democrats supporting the bill face opposition from some Republicans, the Illinois Farm Bureau as well as a question mark surrounding support from Gov. JB Pritzker.

A spokesperson for Pritzker wrote: “The Governor’s Office will monitor and review legislation as it moves through the General Assembly. Any legislation that requires additional state resources will be carefully reviewed with budgeteers to understand the fiscal impact.”

Without support from the governor and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, passage of the bill through the two Democratic-led chambers might be difficult, supporters of the bill said.

“I think our thought is, frankly, if the governor and IDNR would come out as supporting this, it would be a much easier sell to the legislature,” said Brian Gill, senior director of government affairs and policy for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, one of the organizations supporting the bill.

With the dynamics of consistently tight budgets in Springfield in mind, the Shedd changed its strategy in the state capital recently.

“We last year flipped from pointing at the General Assembly to asking Gov. Pritzker to take a leadership role in this,’’ Gill said. “I think those of us that support this certainly would probably support more budget for IDNR to also handle this, but that is the bigger concern: budget and resources.”

Moeller conceded the law might require additional resources from the state.

“I don’t think the Department of Natural Resources is against this legislation, but I think we are working with them to make sure that they can implement the regulation — with everything else that they’re charged with doing.”

Elsewhere, opposition to the bill centers around the added restrictions to landowners and the potential impact on economic growth and development in rural Illinois. In addition to the farming groups, last year the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association weighed in as opposing it. When asked whether their position remains the same this year, an IFCA spokesperson said, “We are monitoring the wetlands bill and other bills of general interest to the ag industry as a whole.”

Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, has opposed the bill since 2024. On his official website, he said the bill would have a massive negative impact on farmers, the construction industry, anyone looking to build a home and all private property owners.

“This legislation is absurd, and if it becomes law, it will just be one more reason that people choose not to build a home or start a business in Illinois,” he is quoted as saying on the website.

What about the Swampbuster Act?

Sanjay Sofat, director of environmental policy at the Illinois Farm Bureau, said there are already effective government programs in place to protect wetlands.

He cited the federal Swampbuster Act, which discourages farmers from turning wetlands into cropland since 1985. Under the federal law, any farmer who drains a wetland on their property is ineligible for federal benefits such as subsidies, loans and insurance. According to the environmental advocacy organization Food and Water Watch, the program currently protects approximately 78 million acres of wetlands — almost two-thirds  of the wetlands left in the continental United States.

“The burden is, you are doubly regulating the same entity that is already regulated on the Swampbuster,” he said.

However, Tucker Barry, communications director for the Illinois Environmental Council, said the Swampbuster Act does not address the legal protections gap that would arise if the new EPA rules were to be finalized. While the Swampbuster rewards farmers’ compliance if they do not convert wetlands, it does not define what a wetland is — instead it uses the CWA definition of wetlands as “navigable waters.”

Barry argued that not all farmers are against wetlands protection. “Many farmers understand that this bill is reasonable and offers vital protections that help them protect their land from flooding, poor water quality and soil health problems,” Barry said.

Environmental conservation advocates like the Environmental Council, The Wetlands Initiative and the Shedd have been working to lobby for wetland-friendly policies from Springfield for a long time while maintaining restoration projects of their own.

Some counties in Illinois, meanwhile, have stepped up to fill the lack of a firm state policy, Barry said.

DuPage County requires additional documentation for activities that disturb the ground, removes vegetation, builds unpermitted structures, or any activity that affects the flow or absorption of water.

Ellman, who represents the county, sees her bill as an extension of those kinds of efforts.

“As there are wetlands protections already in place for DuPage County, I am thinking beyond the scope of (Senate) District 21 in terms of how important this matter is,” Ellman said. “By enforcing these protections now, we are protecting our state’s ecosystem and more.”

Gabriel Castilho is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, and is a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.