A group of 20 Democratic Senators, led by Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin, have sent a letter to the heads of the EPA and Corps of Engineers opposing any move to rescind the 2015 Waters of the U.S. Rule. The agencies are currently working on a rewrite of the rule. South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal disagrees with the Senators and continues to oppose the original WOTUS regulation.
The EPA and Corps of Engineers are also proposing an interim rule to replace WOTUS and are taking public comment until September 27. VanderWal hopes the recent letter by the Senators will compel opponents to send in their comments.
He says the 2015 WOTUS proposal was an overreach by the federal government to control all of the nation’s waters.
The EPA and Corps of Engineers so far have received more than 180,000 comments on their interim proposal.
