WOTUS and Politics
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Politics was likely behind the Biden EPA’s decision to issue its Waters of the US rule ahead of a pending SCOTUS opinion expected to better define WOTUS.
American Farm Bureau’s Courtney Briggs says lawmakers, lobbyists, farm groups, and producers have been asking WHY EPA issued its WOTUS rule months ahead of the Supreme Court ruling …
BRIGGS … “Well, I do think that this was a commitment that the Biden Administration made to the environmental community. It does defy logic that they’ve moved forward with this rule. I think one can conclude that it’s to appease the environmentalists.”
EPA chief Michael Regan told lawmakers he jumped ahead of the High Court to save time since much of the rule doesn’t deal with WOTUS, a claim Briggs disputes and that the Supreme Court could rule on Sackett much sooner than expected …
BRIGGS … “I would even say that it’s a few weeks before we’ll see a decision from the High Court in Sackett vs. the EPA. And we have been quite critical, for some time now, that the agencies have moved forward with this regulatory action in light of the roadmap on, essentially, a cornerstone of their rulemaking, handing down a decision that provides a roadmap on using the regulatory test.”
After President Biden vetoed a House-Senate Resolution to scuttle the rule, AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “Mr. President, you let us down.”
