Senate Republican leaders lauded President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order on Tuesday that sets the stage for repealing the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule as a win for landowners and employers.
U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) have led Senate opposition to WOTUS, which the EPA finalized in 2015 to expand federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.
Ernst, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called the repeal of WOTUS “a significant step forward” in providing relief to farmers, businesses and manufacturers.
“Throughout my 99-county tour across the state, I hear from folks repeatedly calling for this rule to be scrapped, which is why I have led efforts to do just that,” Ernst said. “This ill-conceived rule gives the EPA extensive power to regulate water on 97 percent of the land in the state of Iowa, breeding uncertainty and confusion for many in Iowa and across the country.”
Ernst previously invited recently confirmed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to visit an Iowa ethanol plant to help understand the impact of WOTUS on farmers, small businesses and landowners.
“I’m thrilled that Washington is finally standing up for our rural communities and holding our government accountable as we move forward toward finally eliminating this burdensome and overreaching rule,” Ernst said.
Moran, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, supported the inclusion of a provision to block implementation of WOTUS in the fiscal year 2016 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill.
“The onerous WOTUS rule misses the mark by imposing excessive burdens on landowners, threatening to harm the economy and costing us jobs,” Moran said. “We all share the goal of promoting clean and safe drinking water for our citizens, but there are better ways to protect our waters than this federal regulation. I look forward to working with the administration on commonsense environmental policies that conserve our natural resources for the next generation while continuing to encourage economic development.”
Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, convened a hearing on WOTUS and cosponsored legislation to repeal it during the 114th Congress.
“The WOTUS rule has been a thorn in the sides of rural America for too long, and I’m thrilled President Trump has taken swift action to get rid of it,” Roberts said. “The Obama administration’s EPA claimed they listened to farmers when writing this rule; they did not. I’m pleased to see the Trump administration is actually listening to rural America with this executive action.”