03.29.23

Hoeven: Senate Passes Resolution to Rescind Biden Administration's Overreaching WOTUS Rule

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven issued the following statement after voting for a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to rescind the Biden administration’s final rule to redefine the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) and expand the scope of federal regulatory authority. Hoeven helped introduce the Senate companion of the resolution with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) earlier this year. The resolution passed by a vote of 53 to 43. 

“President Biden’s efforts to expand WOTUS is a prime example of this administration’s repeated regulatory overreaches,” said Hoeven. “This rule would affect nearly all waters in North Dakota, even temporary and seasonal standing water. As a result, businesses across our economy, including in the construction, agriculture and energy industries, would face new regulatory burdens for basic operations. These are roadblocks we cannot afford, which will lead to higher prices and more inflation. That’s why we’ve worked to push back on this costly expansion of federal authority, including leading efforts to defund WOTUS, both when it was pushed by the Obama administration and again today.”

Hoeven has been working to protect private property rights and push back on the Biden administration’s efforts to advance an expanded WOTUS rule, which imposes unworkable mandates, burdensome new permitting requirements and compliance costs on landowners, energy and agriculture producers and other industries. Accordingly, the senator:

  • Helped introduce legislation in the 117th Congress to codify the Trump-era Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), which replaced the 2015 WOTUS rule.
    • Hoeven previously worked to advance the NWPR, following his efforts to defund WOTUS in 2015 and 2016 and prevent its implementation.
  • Joined an amicus brief to the U.S.  Supreme Court in the case of Sackett v. EPA urging for the preservation of state authority to regulate local waters and lands.
  • Pressed the EPA and the Army Corps to suspend rulemaking on WOTUS until the U.S. Supreme Court completes its consideration of Sackett v. EPA.

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