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Senate bill contains rider blocking WOTUS

The fiscal 2017 Interior-Environment spending bill approved Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee contains a rider blocking the “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule, also referred to as the Clean Water Act rule.

The WOTUS provision would prevent the EPA from enforcing the rule in the event court stays are lifted. Other riders on the Senate bill seek to block endangered species and coal mining regulations. But some Senate Democrats, including Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, oppose the inclusion of those riders and say they will work to prevent the bill from moving to the Senate floor.

Similar WOTUS riders are attached to two House spending bills.