A resolution to again attempt to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) controversial Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule will be introduced in House in 2016, Matt Sparks, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said.
Voting is planned on a Congressional Review Act challenge to the WOTUS rule next year in the House and the Senate is “in the process of putting the waters of United States repealer on [the president’s] desk,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.
A resolution to stop the WOTUS rule and prohibit the EPA from pursuing any similar rules in the future passed the Senate on Nov. 4 by a 53-44 vote, but didn’t make it to the President. President Obama has promised to veto any legislation to dismantle or nullify the WOTUS rule, should such a bill reach his desk.
The EPA’s issuance of the WOTUS rule under the Clean Water Act has provoked litigation from over 30 states and concerned organizations, representing agriculture, developers and industry. The rule is currently stayed due to a federal appeals court ruling. Attempts to include a provision in the recently approved Fiscal 2016 omnibus spending till to halt the WOTUS rule were also unsuccessful.