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Collin Peterson says best way to stop WOTUS is with lawsuits

The ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee says the solution to stopping the Clean Water Rule, formerly Waters of the U.S., is with a lawsuit. Collin Peterson addressed the issue at Minnesota Farmfest Wednesday, saying he’s done everything he can in the House.

“I’ve been pushing for some time to use the Congressional Review Act, which is something that I was involved with way back in the 90’s.  It gives Congress the authority to stop a rule in the first 60 days after it is promulgated.”

A resolution was proposed in the House to stop the rule, but Peterson says he’s not confident such a measure would pass in the Senate.

“I’m not sure the Senate’s going to move number one.  Number two: even if the Senate moved, we’d probably get a veto.  I don’t believe there’s any way we’re going to get an override of the veto.”

Until a new administration is in place, he says the best hope for those opposed to the rule is to tie it up in court.

“I can not get these guys to understand; and I don’t think it’s the EPA.  I think it’s some of these kind of environmental extremists in the White House that are pushing this.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation and quite a few state governments have filed lawsuits against the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers on its Clean Water Rule.