The House voted to pass a measure that would kill EPA’s Clean Water Rule/Waters of the U.S.
Nebraska Republican Adrian Smith calls the rule the largest abuse of executive power in recent history.
“Under the rule, the EPA and the Army Corps will have the power to dictate land use decision and farming practices of agricultural producers and business owners all across the country,” he says.
Speaking on the House floor, Smith said Congress has the responsibility to guard against power grabs by executive agencies. He says that’s why he introduced his House Joint Resolution.
“My resolution gained more than 70 cosponsors and supporters from both sides of the aisle,” he says. “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.”
Oregon Democrat, Peter DeFazio, the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, says EPA’s proposed rule isn’t perfect but calls it an improvement from the previous Clean Water Rule.
“In the interim we will be under these really contradictory and unworkable rules of the Bush era,” he says. “Congress should act to update the Clean Water Act and then we can have a vigorous debate over what areas we want to cover and we don’t want to cover and perhaps get a little more clarity.”
House Ag Chairman Mike Conaway says the process of developing the new rule was flawed from the beginning and that the final rule is on par with “an administration that wants to impose its authoritarian will on every inch of this great land”.
The Senate passed a disapproval resolution in November on a 53-44 vote, short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn a certain presidential veto.
The House passed the Joint Resolution 253-166, it now heads to the president’s desk.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com