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Blunt says appropriations measure could stop WOTUS

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri says implementation of what’s known as the Waters of the U.S. rule should be halted.  Blunt says that if the Obama Administration wants to change the constitutional definition of navigable waters – those proposed to come under federal regulatory jurisdiction – it should change the law.  The senator says there are ways to stop the rule.

“Hopefully, at the end of the day, we can, one, not fund it, and give people more time to think about it,” said Senator Blunt, during a conference at the Missouri State Fair hosted by the Missouri Farm Bureau.  “There’s certainly a great opportunity that a court will eventually decide the government couldn’t do it, but by then a lot of the damage is already done.”

One strategy is to block the rule by stipulating its de-funding in a congressionally-passed appropriations measure, Blunt told Brownfield Ag News following the conference.

“We need to try to force the president into a position where he has to agree that nothing can be done to implement this rule, frankly, while he’s still president, and hopefully the next president will feel much different about this than the current president does,” said Blunt, in an interview with Brownfield Ag News.

WOTUS implementation is due to take place this coming Friday.

AUDIO: Missouri Farm Bureau WOTUS news conference (28 minutes MP3)