House Passes Senate Companion to Smith's Resolution to Reject WOTUS

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement after the House passed S.J. Res. 22, the Senate companion to Smith’s resolution to disapprove the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Waters of the U.S. rule, known as WOTUS. This legislation will now go to the President’s desk.

“Today’s bipartisan vote to kill the EPA’s WOTUS rule sends a strong message to President Obama and his administration about Americans’ opposition to this abuse of executive power,” Smith said. “When the Obama administration pushed forward with WOTUS in defiance of a court-ordered stay, I introduced this resolution of disapproval in the House on behalf of all farmers, land owners, and local officials frustrated by the administration’s refusal to acknowledge their concerns. Following the President’s comments in his State of the Union address about the need to cut red tape, I hope he will listen to the American people and do away with this dangerous rule which exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority.”

Smith introduced H.J. Res. 59, the House resolution to disapprove WOTUS under the Congressional Review Act, in July 2015. The Congressional Review Act provides for an expedited process for Congress to overturn executive rulemaking, including expedited Senate consideration of legislation to block newly finalized rules.

House floor remarks:

I rise today in strong support of this legislation.

I certainly appreciate clean water. However, the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. rule, or WOTUS, is one of the largest abuses of executive power in modern history and poses a significant threat to America’s economy.

Under the rule, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers will have the power to dictate land use decisions and farming practices of agriculture producers and business owners across the country.

To give you an idea of the scope of the overreach and to illustrate why my colleagues from urban districts should also be concerned about this rule, I want to share with you an example of EPA and Army Corps abuse in Douglas County, Nebraska, with a population of over 500,000 in my home state.

The President also happens to be visiting this county today.

In 2005, the county began the process of submitting the proper environmental permit applications needed to extend a section of road about one mile. The project was designated as having the lowest level of environmental impact.

However, construction is not slated to begin until at least 2019. Why the delay?

There is a small ditch which runs adjacent to the proposed project. Within the ditch there is a small rut about six to eight inches wide and no more than an inch deep. It has no ordinary high water mark and there are no wetland plants growing in the ditch. However, the Corps declared this ditch a water of the United States, costing the county thousands of dollars and numerous years.

This was never the intent of Congress when the Clean Water Act was passed.

The act clearly limits federal jurisdiction to navigable waters. In fact, the term navigable appears more than 80 times in the Clean Water Act.

There is no way one can tell me an inch-deep ditch is a navigable water.

Congress has a responsibility to guard against these bureaucratic power-grabs by executive agencies.

This is why I introduced the companion bill to this legislation immediately after the rule was finalized. My resolution gained more than 70 cosponsors with supporters from both sides of the aisle.

Thanks to the expedited procedures established under the Congressional Review Act, after we vote on this legislation, the bill will proceed immediately to the President’s desk.

My hope is the President will listen to the American people and roll back this new rule.

I thank the Speaker, and I yield back.