As the Senate opened debate on the energy and water funding bill, the White House warned against using the bill as a vehicle to stop the EPA’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation, unpopular in rural states and under challenge in court. “The administration strongly objects to inclusion of problematic ideological provisions that are beyond the scope of funding legislation,” said a White House statement. “If the final bill that is presented to the president includes such provisions, the president’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.” The four-page statement did not mention WOTUS explicitly but its meaning was clear.
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven told colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee last week that he would sponsor an amendment during floor debate to repeal WOTUS, said The Hill newspaper. President Obama vetoed legislation last year that included anti-WOTUS riders.
The regulation defines the upstream reach of the clean water law. Roughly one-third of Americans get some or all of their drinking water from the intermittent and headwater streams at issue. Farm groups, led by the American Farm Bureau Federation, say EPA’s definitions are so broad that it could regulate dry ditches in a field. EPA says WOTUS clears up questions created by Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006.
Ten of the largest U.S. environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, and Environmental Defense Fund, signed a letter asking senators to oppose anti-WOTUS riders. “The Clean Water Rule helps protect the waters our children and grandchildren use to drink, swim, and play in,” says the letter.