Sen. Cramer Statement on Biden Administration Proposed Revival of WOTUS

Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a proposed rule to re-establish the pre-2015 definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). This rule would repeal the Trump Administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR).

“It’s a shame the Trump Administration’s rule was repealed at all. Americans deserve better than regulatory ping pong,” said Senator Cramer. “I look forward to hosting EPA and the Corps of Engineers next week in Bismarck to give North Dakotans the opportunity to put our priorities in front of the Biden Administration as the process moves forward.”

This announcement comes just days before Senator Cramer hosts EPA Office of Water Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham in North Dakota to talk with stakeholders who deal with WOTUS as the EPA works to craft a new rule.

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 NWPR. When EPA announced in June it would 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. Senator Cramer also introduced legislation to codify the Trump Administration’s WOTUS rule.