House lawmakers recently voted to overturn the Biden administration’s cumbersome rewrite of the nation’s water rules that would pile new regulations onto farmers.
Longstanding exclusions for small and isolated water features on farms were removed in the 453-page Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which goes into effect on March 20.
“The Biden rule would lead to sweeping changes to the federal government’s authority to regulate what is considered a navigable water, with enormous impacts on small businesses, manufacturers, farmers, home and infrastructure builders, local communities, water districts, and private property owners,” said House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, who sponsored the resolution.
A resolution to overturn the rule was approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 227 to 198 on Thursday. All but one Republican backed the measure, while nine Democrats defected to join in supporting the resolution.
“President Biden’s new WOTUS rule is a nuclear warhead aimed squarely at our farm families, small businesses, homebuilders, every property owner, and entire communities because of its overreaching definition,” said House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman David Rouzer, who co-sponsored the resolution to overturn the rule.
“Cloaked under the guise of clean water, all this rule does is expand the federal government’s control over states, localities, and private landowners, making it harder to farm, build, and generate economic prosperity. I encourage the Senate to pass this commonsense resolution to push back against onerous rules like this one.”
An identical resolution was introduced in the Senate and was cosponsored by all 49 Republican senators, but President Biden has indicated he would veto resolutions that seek to block the new WOTUS rules.
Source:michiganfarmnews.com
Categories: Michigan, Business, Government & Policy