WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today applauded the unveiling of the final ‘Waters of the United States’ (WOTUS) replacement rule.
“The original ‘WOTUS’ rule was nothing but a severe regulatory over reach,” said Roberts. “The growing threat farmers were facing from the previous administration’s regulatory warpath would have only added costs to their businesses and stymied their ability to compete. I’m thankful this administration’s rule is a much more reasonable approach to regulation.”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler today unveiled the Navigable Waters Protection Rule to replace the burdensome, Obama-era ‘WOTUS’ rule.
The 'WOTUS' rule was originally developed by the Obama Administration’s EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The rule greatly expanded the EPA’s federal jurisdiction and scope of waterbodies subject to Clean Water Act requirements.
The Obama-era rule was formally rolled back in September 2018.
Chairman Roberts has long been a stern opponent of Obama-era burdensome regulations. Roberts joined then Acting EPA Administrator Wheeler to unveil the proposed WOTUS replacement rule. Shortly after taking the gavel of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Roberts held a hearing on the WOTUS rule and cosponsored bipartisan legislation to repeal the rule.
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