More than two dozen Republican senators, led by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced a resolution seeking to preserve the Trump administration's Navigable Waters Protection rule put forth by EPA, which replaced the Obama-era waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.
Republican lawmakers, especially those from rural states, have long complained the WOTUS rule is a prime example of overregulation.
“Everyone should agree that clean water should be a national priority. But I can't stand by and allow for another Washington power grab that will make it harder for Iowans to farm, ranch, and build,” Ernst said in a statement.
Trump EPA's rule set a significantly narrower definition of which waters are covered under federal protections, excluding wetlands connected to covered waters through groundwater, many ditches, and ephemeral streams, or streams that flow with rainwater. Environmentalists said that went further than rolling back the Obama-era regulation, excluding from federal protections waters that have been covered for decades.
The Biden administration is expected to revisit the issue as it is among the Trump-era rules that the new administration has under review