The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on June 10 approved legislation that would force EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rewrite their “Clean Water Rule” redefining the “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) subject to the federal Clean Water Act. The measure, sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.), passed the committee on a party-line 11-9 vote.
As approved by the EPW panel, the “Federal Water Quality Protection Act” (S. 1140) would require EPA and the Army Corps to conduct additional consultation with state and local government officials over options for protecting water bodies before issuing a revised WOTUS proposal that abides by several parameters established in the bill. Among other requirements, the bill would mandate the exclusion of isolated water bodies and water supply systems from federal Clean Water Act regulation.
Speaking at the outset of the hearing, EPW Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) criticized what some have perceived as a lack of stakeholder outreach on the part of EPA and the Army Corps as they wrote the WOTUS rule. Inhofe said the bill will make the government “go back and redo” the rule, while requiring “consultation with states and local governments.” Inhofe also said the bill “encourages EPA to regulate streams that actually carry pollutants to navigable water and wetlands next to streams and rivers that filter pollutants.”
EPW Democrats, led by Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), strongly criticized the bill. Boxer said altering the WOTUS rule would put sources of drinking water at risk and “create more confusion for businesses and landowners by taking away new exemptions and sending EPA and the Corps back to square one to try to figure out the confusing new terms and standards in the bill.”
S. 1140 has been cosponsored by 41 senators, including three Democrats. The bill will likely head to the Senate floor in the coming months, where Chairman Inhofe says he hopes to secure a veto-proof majority – which would require securing the support of at least three more Democrats in addition to all Senate Republicans.