Dr. Bucshon Votes to Reject EPA’s WOTUS Rule

(WASHINGTON, DC) – This week, the House of Representatives passed a joint resolution nullifying the Environmental Protection Agency’s flawed Waters of the United States (WOTUS).The resolution was approved in the House by a bipartisan vote of 253-166 and was sent to President Obama’s desk.

Eighth District Congressman Larry Bucshon supported the legislation saying that stopping the EPA’s aggressive power grab is important for Indiana’s farmers and agriculture industry.

“The federal EPA wants to expand its jurisdiction from main waterways to streams, drainage ditches and ponds, including those on private property. States should be the primary regulators of water within their borders, not the federal government,” said Bucshon. “This rule is an unnecessary power grab that will be disastrous for Hoosier farmers, manufacturers, and localities and we’re going to stop it.”

 

In an op-ed this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan argued, “If they can’t control the water on their land, farmers, ranchers and cattlemen can’t grow their crops or feed their livestock. And precisely because farmers and ranchers — and their elected representatives — know the needs of their land best, the states have long had primary authority over water that flows within their boundaries.”

In October, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the EPA from enforcing the rule after a bipartisan group of 32 governors (including Indiana) filed lawsuits, saying the EPA’s rule rewrite is unconstitutional because it undermines the states’ primacy in water management.

 

BACKGROUND:

S.J. Res. 22 vacates the rule submitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relating to the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act (CWA)) that was published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2015.The final rule greatly expands the scope of waters protected under the CWA.

Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. is a physician and Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee serving his third term representing Indiana’s 8th Congressional district. The 8th District of Indiana includes all or parts of Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, and Warrick counties.