The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed a spending bill with a rider that would stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the controversial Waters of the United States rule (WOTUS).
WOTUS would expand the Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdiction to include bodies of water such as streams that farmers use for drainage and irrigation and adjacent lands. Implementation of the rule has beenstayed by a federal court since last fall pending numerous legal challenges.
Ag interests argue the rule is an invasion of private property rights and represents an overreach by the executive branch.
Agri-Pulse quoted Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, as saying Democrats would block the bill from moving to the full Senate floor due to the WOTUS rider and other provisions.
The WOTUS provision is similar to riders in two House spending bills.