AEA Applauds Bipartisan Vote to Stop WOTUS Overreach

This bipartisan vote halting the federal bureaucracy’s overreach is a welcome check on President Biden’s extreme environmental agenda. The Clean Water Act clearly spells out an extensive state role in the regulation of water sources. The federal statutory regulatory role is overseeing navigable waters of the United States. The repeated attempts by federal bureaucrats to stretch this definition to cover nearly all water sources in the country is an illegal power grab.

This most recent rule from the Biden administration is yet another version of the same old power grab that has been repeatedly struck down by the courts. The definition of “waters of the United States” in this rulemaking is so broad that it deeply intrudes on state responsibilities contrary to the express intent of the Clean Water Act. It will be used as a pretext to insert federal bureaucrats into industries and areas that are already well-regulated by the states themselves.

With the Supreme Court set to reach a decision that will hopefully better clarify how the term “waters of the United States” should be construed, this rule should not have been rushed out at all. That the bureaucracy pressed forward with this power grab regardless only emphasizes why it was so important for Congress to act.