SAINTS PLAYING SPOILER IN NFC SOUTH, BUT THERE’S MORE AT STAKE 1C
N O L A.C O M
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S at u r d ay, d e c e m b e r 13, 2025
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“This rule would turn the Clean Water Act on its head.” MARK DAVIS, director of Tulane University’s Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy
EPA plans to reduce wetland protections
Rule change could open millions of acres to development
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Mayor-elect Helena Moreno speaks during a news conference on Friday at Gallier Hall.
Moreno unveils plans for her inauguration Day of service, festival to be held that weekend
BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer
STAFF FILE PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER
Wetlands surround a home in Slidell’s Avery Estates. A proposed federal rule could dramatically reduce the number of wetlands in Louisiana that qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act. BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
A proposed federal rule could dramatically reduce the number of wetlands in Louisiana that qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act, a move that could expose millions of acres to development. Under the proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, only wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to waters that are “relatively permanent” — meaning they hold water year-round or with only brief interruptions — would remain federally protected. Wetlands that are seasonal, intermittent or connected only after storms would likely fall outside federal jurisdiction. The change is intended to conform with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Sackett v. Environmental
Protection Agency, which sharply restricted how wetlands can be regulated. But the new proposed rule, issued last month, goes further by removing several long-standing categories of protected water, such as interstate waters, and by formally defining terms that are likely to make federal oversight even narrower. “This rule would turn the Clean Water Act on its head,” said Mark Davis, the director of Tulane University’s Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy. A report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy nonprofit, estimates that up to 3.9 million acres of Louisiana wetlands — roughly half of the state’s remaining wetlands — could lose protection under the proposed rule. Nationally, the group projects that as much as 84% of wet-
lands protected before the Sackett ruling, or 55 million acres, could fall outside federal authority. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost more than 2,000 square miles of wetlands. The EPA, led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, said the proposal is designed to provide legal clarity by defining a “Water of the United States,” or area protected under the Clean Water Act. “Democrat Administrations have weaponized the definition of navigable waters to seize more power from American farmers, landowners, entrepreneurs, and families,” Zeldin said in a statement. “No longer should America’s landowners be forced to spend precious money hiring an attorney or consultant just to tell them whether a Water of the United States is on their property.”
ä See WETLANDS, page 4A
Mayor-elect Helena Moreno’s inauguration weekend will feature a citywide day of service and a free festival in Lafayette Square showcasing New Orleans music and culture ahead of a Jan. 12 ceremony at the Saenger Theatre, where she will take the oath of office. In a departure from years past, Moreno will not hold an inaugural ball. The weekend of events will be funded by private donations and not city funds, Moreno said. “What we want to do with the inauguration is make sure that really the entire city feels like it is a part of it,” Moreno said Friday at a news
ä See MORENO, page 5A
Cantrell vetoes Moreno’s budget Five council votes needed to override current mayor BY BEN MYERS, SOPHIE KASAKOVE and BLAKE PATERSON Staff writers
In one of her last official acts as the city’s chief executive, Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Friday vetoed the 2026 budget that was largely put together by her successor Helena Moreno, who takes office on Jan. 12. The New Orleans City Council earlier this month finalized a $1.6 billion municipal spending plan for 2026 that it said would help stabilize
ä See VETOES, page 5A
Deadly crashes along new Amtrak route cause safety concerns Mississippi plans to install more lights, gates at crossings BY POET WOLFE and MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer/Sun Herald
Geneva Ellegant sat outside her Alabama home on a Tuesday morning, remembering her daughter’s witty humor, gift for painting and beautiful singing voice. “She was my easy child,” Ellegant said of Tavianna, who went by Tavi.
WEATHER HIGH 76 LOW 57 PAGE 6C
Nearly three months earlier, Tavi Ellegant had left work with her boyfriend, Chase Craddock, to return to their home in Long Beach, Mississippi, where the couple cared for his father and grandmother. As they crossed the tracks in Pass Christian, Mississippi, an Amtrak train on the new Mardi Gras route between New Orleans and Mobile struck their vehicle. Both were killed. She was 24, and he was 31. Since the crash, Ellegant has feared that fatal collisions like the one in September could become more common along the line, where some crossings — including
the one where her daughter died — have only flashing lights and no gates. Two more crashes have occurred along the service since: One in Gautier, Mississippi, in November that killed a 40-year-old man, and another in Irvington, Alabama, last week, in which the driver survived. Both of those crossings had gates and caution lights. The rising number of collisions since the line began operating in August has raised concerns among some residents about whether existing safety measures are
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
ä See CRASHES, page 4A The Amtrak Mardi Gras line began service in August.
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13TH yEAR, NO. 123