News

U.S. Senators urge Supreme Court to adopt limited WOTUS rule

Nearly 50 U.S. Senators have filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to adopt a more limited definition of the Waters of the U.S. Rule.

Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley is among the group and tells Brownfield the brief supports petitioners in two pending property cases.

“How far does the authority of the federal government go by depriving people income and value of their property because of government regulations?”

He says the outcome will have a significant impact on how far the Biden administration can go regarding WOTUS.

“Now whether (the administration) will listen to us or not, I don’t know. But I joined the amicus brief because I wanted the court to know how I felt about protecting landowners from government regulation without due process or without compensation.”

Grassley opposes the Obama-era WOTUS rule and says he helped introduce the Navigable Waters Protection Act of 2021 to codify a more workable definition put in place by the Trump administration. 

Senators from Brownfield states that are part of the amicus brief:

Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mike Braun and Todd Young of Indiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran of Kansas, Rob Portman of Ohio, and John Thune of South Dakota.