WASHINGTON– U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo (both R-Idaho) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today joined 47 of their Senate Republican colleagues in introducing a formal challenge to the Biden administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.

The resolution comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a new rule in December 2022 repealing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), and changing the definition of Waters of the United States in a way that will expand federal regulatory authority.

“The Biden administration is unsurprisingly following President Obama in conflating ditches and puddles with rivers and lakes. The egregious definition of navigable waterways that the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers intend to use—instead of the reasonable definition created through the Navigable Waters Protection Rule—will have a crippling effect on Idaho’s farmers, ranchers, and landowners. The negative effects of the Biden administration’s new rule is so far reaching that it is only fair that Congress have the opportunity to vote on it with a Congressional Review Act. This resolution of disapproval signals to President Biden that his Administration cannot impede on Idaho’s land and waters and it should reverse this attempted rule change,” said Risch.

“The Biden Administration continues its efforts to trample on states’ water rights.  This rule only brings further regulatory uncertainty to Idaho’s farmers, ranchers and water users.  Effective and environmentally-sound water quality management policies are best decided by state and local on-the-ground experts, and I will continue fighting to protect Idaho water sovereignty,” said Crapo.

“With its overreaching navigable waters rule, the Biden administration upended regulatory certainty and placed unnecessary burdens directly on millions of Americans,” Ranking Member Capito said. “This Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval will give every member of Congress the chance to stand with farmers, ranchers, landowners, and builders, and protect future transportation, infrastructure, and energy projects of all kinds in their states. I appreciate the widespread support we’ve received in both the Senate and House, and across the country, as we fight to place an important check on this misguided overreach from the Biden administration.”

An identical resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Cosponsors of the WOTUS CRA  include, U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

Full text of the resolution can be found here.

A one-pager can be found here.

BACKGROUND: In 2015, the Obama administration finalized a rule that expanded the definition of WOTUS, creating confusion and burdensome red tape for Idaho’s agriculture industry.

The Trump administration released a proposed rule to replace the 2015 WOTUS rule with a new one that provided much-needed predictability and certainty for farmers by establishing clear and reasonable definitions of what qualifies as a “water of the United States.” The new Navigable Waters Protection Rule was finalized in 2020.

On day one of his administration, President Biden signed an executive order to begin the process of rolling back the Trump administration’s NWPR.

In December 2022, the EPA issued a new rule repealing the Trump administration’s NWPR and changing the definition of WOTUS in a way that will expand federal regulatory authority.

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