Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee member, joined EPW Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and fellow EPW Republican members on a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham about the Biden Administration’s plans to repeal the Trump Administration’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule known as the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR).
“[S]ince the announcement, EPA officials have made a number of public statements to the press and before Congress on the decision to repeal and replace the NWPR and provided details on the timeline and process to gather key stakeholder input. Many of these statements are inconsistent with or absent from the few details that have actually been provided to committee,” the senators wrote.
Today’s letter follows a similar letter sent last month by EPW Republicans to Administrator Regan and Acting Secretary Pinkham seeking clarity on the decision to repeal and replace NWPR, and it reiterates the desire for responses to the unanswered questions from that previous letter. It was sent ahead of an
announcement by the EPA and the Army today regarding their plans for community engagement on this issue. Senator Cramer
secured a commitment from Assistant EPA Administrator for Water Rahdika Fox to hold a WOTUS listening session in North Dakota.
Background:
Senator Cramer worked with the Trump Administration to craft NWPR, making sure it stays within the confines of the law. As Chair of the EPW Subcommittee on Water last Congress, the senator convened a
hearing on the issue which included testimony from North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. In October 2019, Senator Cramer hosted then-EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler for a
WOTUS roundtable.
At the beginning of the Biden Administration, Senator Cramer and his EPW colleagues moved to protect NWPR from being thrown out, introducing a resolution in support of it. When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in June it will repeal NWPR, Senator Cramer described the decision as a “
shame” and vowed to work to ensure the next rule will not harm North Dakotans the way the Obama-era rule threatened to do. Yesterday, Senator Cramer helped introduce
legislation to codify the Trump Administration’s WOTUS rule.
Senators Cramer and Capito are joined on the letter by Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Richard Shelby (R-AL), John Boozman (R-AR), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
