Agriculture is better off with the administration’s “waters of the United States” rule than it would be without it, said President Biden in a veto statement last week. “It provides clear rules of the road that will help advance infrastructure, economic investments and agricultural activities — all while protecting water quality and public health.”
The largest U.S. farm group said Biden “let us down” with the veto of Republican-sponsored H.J.Res 27, a so-called resolution of disapproval that was passed by the House and Senate to overturn the WOTUS rule that was issued in late 2022. House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson said the WOTUS rule, defining the upstream reach of clean water laws, “is overly burdensome and unworkable.”
When it issued its WOTUS definition, the administration repealed a Trump-issued version of the rule that had a smaller area of coverage than previous rules. The resolution of disapproval “would leave Americans without a clear definition” of questions such as wetlands protection, said Biden. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an Idaho case that would restrict federal protection of wetlands to territory with a direct connection to waterways.