WOTUS is on the minds of lawmakers from ag states.
The Trump-era rule was celebrated by agriculture groups, who criticized the potential rollback announcement as a threat to private property rights.
House Ag Committee ranking member GT Thompson says that the Obama-era rule was worded in such a way that even mud puddles and rain gutters would require federal permitting.
“Now, the Biden administration’s has always been, you know, a little vague on facts and so we don’t know yet on exactly what they’re going to propose, but if the best predictor of future performance is past performance, I’m concerned that we’re going to return to those threats on private property rights that serve no purpose,” Thompson states.
He says that before WOTUS, states had jurisdiction over many of the bodies of water this rule took control of.
Related:
Ag groups are ready to fight Navigable Waters rewrite
Sen. Grassley on the outlook of WOTUS under Biden administration
What is the definition of WOTUS?