WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) released this statement after voting to override President Obama’s veto of legislation to invalidate the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule:
“Despite serious questions about the WOTUS rule’s legality and ongoing cases in the courts, the Obama Administration continues to expand its unprecedented overreach by vetoing our resolution. WOTUS is the wrong approach to protecting our water resources, and West Virginia’s farmers, small businesses and energy producers cannot continue to bear the burden of this administration’s far-reaching and costly regulations.”
Earlier today, the Senate failed to advance the veto override for a joint resolution supported by Senator Capito to disapprove of the EPA’s WOTUS rule. The joint resolution passed the Senate in November shortly after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a ruling blocking the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the WOTUS rule nationwide.
As an alternative to WOTUS, Senator Capito helped introduce the Federal Water Quality Protection Act that would protect traditional navigable water from pollution and promote economic opportunity for farmers, energy producers, small businesses and manufacturers.
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