Graves, Capito lead GOP colleagues in joint resolution to end WOTUS rule

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on Feb. 2 introduced a joint resolution that would nullify the Biden administration’s “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule.

The joint resolution would overturn the WOTUS rule published on Jan. 18 by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that voids the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule, reverting back to the Obama administration’s expansion of federal jurisdiction to regulate navigable waters under the Clean Water Act, including wetlands, ephemeral streams, and ditches.

“As American families and businesses continue suffering under the economic crises caused by the disastrous Biden policies of the last two years, this administration has inexplicably decided to move the country back toward the costly and burdensome WOTUS regulations of the past,” said Rep. Graves. “I hope our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join in this effort to preserve regulatory clarity and prevent overzealous, unnecessary, and broadly defined federal power.”

Rep. Graves sponsored House Joint Resolution 27, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which provides a mechanism for Congress to overturn certain final agency actions. H.J.Res. 27 has 147 Republican original cosponsors. Sen. Capito sponsored the identical Senate Joint Resolution 7 with 48 GOP original cosponsors.

“West Virginians and Americans across our country don’t need regulations that are nearly impossible to navigate, especially when it comes to our water,” Sen. Capito tweeted on Feb. 4. “I’m leading ALL of my Republican colleagues in challenging the Biden administration’s #WOTUS rule.”

The Republican lawmakers think the WOTUS rule change negatively impacts small businesses, manufacturers, farmers, home and infrastructure builders, local communities, water districts, and private property owners, according to information provided by their offices. 

“In an unnecessary drain on federal resources, the administration clumsily put forward its rule before the Supreme Court has issued a ruling in the Sackett case, which will affect and alter what the administration has put forward,” Rep. Graves said, referring to the Sackett v. EPA case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is considering whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit set forth the proper test for determining whether wetlands are “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. 

“Congress has the authority and responsibility to review onerous rules like this one handed down from the Executive Branch,” he said.