West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito said President Biden’s vow to veto a Senate measure to overturn the waters of the U.S. rule is insensitive.
The rule allowed the EPA to declare what kinds of streams, from farm ponds or irrigation ditches to actual rivers and lakes, as "navigable waters," subject to deep permit requirements.
"But he is really not listening to the voices of the heartland of the country if he vetoes this,” Capito said. “It's a very far-reaching rule that impacts so many small businesses and farmers in the state of West Virginia.”
She said five Democrats joined Republicans in overturning the rule, and she's hopeful the same will hold on a variety of other permitting issues in need of reform.