WASHINGTON – On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and all 47 of their Republican colleagues in introducing a formal challenge to the Biden administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.

The resolution comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a new rule in December 2022 repealing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), and changing the definition of WOTUS in a way that will expand federal regulatory authority and threaten rights of land-owners.

Background

• The revised WOTUS rule substantially expands federal jurisdiction over streams and wetlands, including on private property, and encroaches on states’ authorities to regulate land and water within their borders.
• By changing this definition, President Biden is unnecessarily creating regulatory uncertainty and added confusion and cost to infrastructure, transportation and energy projects.

• The new rule adopts a subjective “significant nexus” test for determining when land or a water feature is subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act.

• This complex test gives federal bureaucrats control over determining when temporary, tributary, and other upland waters are regulated. The rule makes farmers, developers, builders, and other landowners more reliant on the shifting interpretations of the EPA and Army Corps.

Sens. Johnson and Capito are joined on the resolution by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

Full text of the resolution can be found here.