News

EPA releases new WOTUS rule

The EPA has released the new Waters of the U.S. Rule under the Clean Water Act.

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa says she is pleased with EPA’s rapid action.  “This WOTUS replacement rule was released quickly, very important, and properly to provide much-needed regulatory certainty.”

Senator Pat Roberts says during his travels around the country to discuss the farm bill, WOTUS was regularly brought up by farmers and organizations, and he’s glad to see the new rule.  “Every time that the second or third or fourth person would jump up that was representing a farm organization or just themselves individually and would say what about WOTUS?”

Among other things, the new WOTUS rule will only regulate ditches that function like a traditional navigable waterway, such as a canal.  Lakes and ponds will be regulated if they flow into a traditional navigable waterway.   American Farm Bureau’s President Zippy Duvall says that’s welcome news to farmers.  “No one in the country, no one in Washington or in the capitol knows how best to take care of that land than the men and women that live on it and till it, and take care of it every day.”

Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler says the new WOTUS rule will have a short comment period before final approval.  “We asked for comments in the development of this proposal.  We received over six thousand comments that helped inform our decisions that went into the development of this proposal.  We are looking at just a sixty day comment period, but that’s sixty days after its published in the Federal Register.”

Ernst, who tried unsuccessfully to change the rule during the Obama Administration, says, “Here we are today, one step closer to finally ending this federal overreach.”