Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), joined Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and all Senate Republicans in formally challenging the Biden Administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.
The resolution comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) announced a new rule in December 2022 repealing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) and changing the WOTUS definition to expand federal regulatory authority.
“The Biden Administration’s rule redefining Waters of the United States is a legal overstep, wading into private property rights and infringing on North Dakota’s jurisdiction over waters within its borders,” said Senator Cramer. “Farmers, ranchers, and landowners have endured far too much uncertainty on WOTUS regulations, and this rewrite is a step in the wrong direction. North Dakota has been an epicenter of this debate before and should lead the fight once again. Our resolution would rescind the Biden rule, keeping the Administration within the boundaries of the law.”
“With its overreaching navigable waters rule, the Biden administration upended regulatory certainty and placed unnecessary burdens directly on millions of Americans,” said Ranking Member Capito. “This Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval will give every member of Congress the chance to stand with farmers, ranchers, landowners, and builders, and protect future transportation, infrastructure, and energy projects of all kinds in their states. I appreciate the widespread support we’ve received in both the Senate and House, and across the country, as we fight to place an important check on this misguided overreach from the Biden administration.”
Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO), Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I), leads an identical resolution in the House of Representatives.
Click here for the text of the resolution. Click here for a one-pager.
Background:
In February 2022, Senator Cramer and his Republican colleagues on the EPW committee sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor requesting the Biden Administration immediately halt plans to finalize a novel definition of WOTUS until after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA, a case expected to have major implications on CWA scope and enforcement. Learn more here.
Senator Cramer also joined Senator John Thune (R-SD) and the entire Senate Republican Conference in urging the EPA and Army Corps to suspend the pending rulemaking to redefine the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act, specifically WOTUS, until the U.S. Supreme Court completes its consideration of Sackett v. EPA. Learn more here.
In November 2021, Senator Cramer hosted EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham in Bismarck for a WOTUS listening session. At the listening session, Assistant Administrator Fox and Acting Assistant Secretary Pinkham heard firsthand from farmers, landowners, and stakeholders who deal with WOTUS as EPA works to craft a new rule. Learn more here.