Davis decries Obama’s veto of WOTUS disapproval

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) recently decried President Barack Obama’s veto of S.J. Res. 22, which disapproved of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule.

Under WOTUS, the EPA’s jurisdiction would be expanded under the Clean Water Act to areas that traditionally are dry. Thirty-two states have challenged the rule, which has also been prevented from going forward by two courts while litigation continues.

“It’s disappointing that just days after President Obama spoke about cutting ‘red tape’ in his State of the Union address, he doubles-down on a rule that could add burdensome permitting requirements for any farmer with a drainage ditch or pond on their land,” Davis said. “This is just another overstep by the administration that will be battled out in the courts leaving much uncertainty for the agriculture community and our nation’s economy.

“The EPA has no business regulating ditches and retention ponds. The counties, cities, farmers, and landowners who have them on their properties do not need additional permitting bureaucracy and expenses. This is exactly the kind of unnecessary and unreasonable regulation that I hope will be prevented once the EPA implements the Agricultural Science Committee that I fought to create. Our farmers need a seat at the table when the EPA is making these rules. I look forward to raising this issue again with EPA Administrator McCarthy when she testifies before the House Agriculture Committee next week.”

Davis authored a provision in the 2014 Farm Bill that created an agriculture subcommittee in the EPA’s Science Advisory Board to provide a stronger voice to farmers through reviews of EPA actions that could negatively impact agriculture.

McCarthy is scheduled to testify on Tuesday at 9 a.m. before the House Agriculture Committee during a hearing on the impact of the EPA’s actions on the rural economy.