Ernst Works to Stop Biden’s WOTUS Rule
Ernst, who grew up on a family farm in Southwest Iowa, is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined her Senate Republican colleagues in challenging the Biden administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule through the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a formal move to halt aggressive rulemaking by a federal agency.
The resolution comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a rule to repeal the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR).
“The Biden administration’s WOTUS rule is out-of-touch and overreaching,” said Ernst. “My Senate colleagues and I are working to stop it and provide our farmers and small businesses with much-needed regulatory certainty.”
Full text of the resolution can be found here.
Background
In 2015, Senator Ernst led a similar effort against the Obama-Biden administration’s harmful WOTUS rule to nullify the expanded and overreaching regulations on Iowa farmers. She successfully passed her measure through the Senate and House, but President Obama vetoed it. Under the Trump administration, Senator Ernst worked to ensure a clear definition of what is considered a water of the United States.
On day one of the Biden administration, an executive order rolled back the Trump administration’s common-sense NWPR, turning back the clock to Obama-era policies, creating confusion and bringing back burdensome regulations. Sackett v. EPA is currently pending before the Supreme Court and will better determine the scope of the Clean Water Act, ultimately clarifying what is, and what is not, a water of the U.S.
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