WASHINGTON DC (January 23, 2020) – Today, the Trump administration completed the important process of repealing and replacing the Obama administration’s overreaching “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition. The previous definitions have repeatedly sought to maximize federal regulatory reach at the expense of state authority, subjecting farmers, energy producers and landowners generally to ever greater regulatory red tape from Washington DC bureaucrats.
In response to today’s news, Thomas Pyle, President of the American Energy Alliance, released the following statement:
“Today, President Trump made good on another important promise by replacing a federal regulation that was considered by many experts as an unprecedented attack on the private property rights of rural Americas. The Obama WOTUS rule would have unnecessarily harmed America’s farmers, ranches, and energy producers with no meaningful environmental benefit.”
“This much improved definition returns the proper role of the states in water regulation, restraining the federal government to interstate waters. It recognizes the obvious fact that water and land use conditions, and thus their needed regulation, are far different in Arizona or Michigan than in Florida or Idaho. The Clean Water Act explicitly says that states are the primary regulators when it comes to water and this rule seeks to better effect that statutory mandate.”
“Ultimately, the scope of federal regulatory authority over water must be decided definitively by the Supreme Court, but the American Energy Alliance applauds the administration for seeking to minimize regulatory burdens until such a ruling is made.”
Additional Resources:
- AEA Applauds POTUS for Reform of WOTUS (Dec. 11, 2018)
- WOTUS Rule Infringes on Private Property Rights (May 27, 2015)
- EPA’s WOTUS Rule “Insults Property Owners” (Mar. 20, 2015)
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