Noem applauds N.D. court’s injunction against EPA water rule

After North Dakota’s U.S. District Court granted a preliminary injunction against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule last week, U.S. Representative Kristi Noem (R-SD) released a statement on Monday voicing her support of the move.

“The Obama administration’s proposed WOTUS rule could amount to one of the largest federal land grabs in U.S. history,” Noem said. “It is a vast federal overreach, and the District Court was right to put the brakes on it. The District Court’s hold is temporary at this time, so our efforts to reverse this rule must continue. If the EPA’s proposal would ever be allowed to move forward, the expanded authority would empower federal agencies to fine homeowners, farmers, ranchers and others tens of thousands of dollars per violation per day. We can’t afford it.”

Earlier this year, the congresswoman worked to help the U.S. House pass the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, bipartisan legislation that would send the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the Army Corps of Engineers, back to the drawing board on the WOTUS rule.

Noem also called for the EPA to draw up an official definition of regulated navigable waters on a map.
Noem also joined over 200 legislators from both sides of the aisle earlier this year in a letter that urged the EPA and the secretary of the Army to withdraw the proposed rule.

Noem has represented South Dakota’s at-large district in the U.S. House since 2011. Born in Watertown, South Dakota, in 1971, Noem previously served as assistant majority leader of the
South Dakota House from 2009 to 2010. Noem was educated at South Dakota State University and serves on the following committees: Education and the Workforce, Natural Resources