“The Senator had an integral part in that and in carrying that on the Democratic side and we just fell short a few votes”.
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In the Senate’s arcane parliamentary system, the resolution required only a simple majority to proceed to a vote in the Republican-controlled chamber, which it received.
Barrasso’s bill, S. 1140, also known as the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, directed the EPA and Corps to issue a revised WOTUS rule that protects traditional navigable water and wetlands from water pollution, while also protecting farmers, ranchers and private landowners. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor that the regulations are “a cynical and overbearing power grab dressed awkwardly as a few clean water measure”, a video of the debate shows.
A federal district court has already enjoined the rule and raised numerous constitutional questions. For now, the EPA has been ordered to go back to their original regulations following the 2001 and 2006 Supreme Court cases. “Farmers and ranchers now know who supports their ability to protect and maintain their own water and land – and who supports overregulation by the EPA”, said Roberts.
“This confusing WOTUS rule threatens the livelihoods of rural communities and middle class Americans, and impedes small businesses and manufacturing”, Sen.
The Senate bill would force the EPA to withdraw and rewrite the rules.
Since the EPA’s new clean water rule was announced, many Republican lawmakers, as well as those in the aggregate and construction industries, decried it as a federal government grab for more power. However, according to a July 16 report by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the final rule, which the committee called “a radical change from current law… asserts that all ephemeral streams are “waters of the United States” as long as they have a bed, bank, and ordinary high water mark’. Rest assured, I am committed to stopping these regulations in their tracks and protecting Arkansans from President Obama’s continued attacks on farmers”, he said. “Legally there is. It did not say every drop of water is controlled by the environmental protection agency, under the Clean Water Act”, said Sen.
Officials in the Army Corps of Engineers have actually challenged the administration’s characterization of the rule as “a joint effort of the EPA and the Corps”. But President Barack Obama is likely to veto the resolution, and overturning a veto would require 67 votes in the Senate.
The League of Conservation voters said the legislation blocked Tuesday would have arbitrarily defined which waterways deserve protection without recognizing the role of headwaters and seasonal and rain-dependent waters on downstream water quality.
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was an early co-sponsor of the bill and frequently speaks out on executive branch regulations he sees as overly burdensome to citizens and businesses.
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The White House backed the EPA in saying that the agencies rulemaking is essential to ensure clean water for future generations.
