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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) released the following statement after voting to repeal the Biden administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval. “Living in Louisiana, we are well aware of what wetlands are. We don’t need more bureaucracy from Washington to tell us what we already know,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Repealing this regulation will help our farmers, construction workers, and energy producers from Biden’s harmful overreach.” Cassidy joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and the entire Senate Republican Conference in introducing the CRA—a formal challenge to the Biden administration’s WOTUS rule. The joint resolution of disapproval comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a new rule in December 2022 repealing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), and changing the definition of Waters of the United States in a way that will expand federal regulatory authority. The U.S. House of Representatives passed an identical resolution ealier this month. The CRA now heads to the president’s desk. Background Cassidy had long criticized the Obama-era WOTUS rule for its burdensome and confusing regulations, as well as its infringement on private citizens’ property rights. The rule was considered by many Louisiana farmers, construction workers, and energy producers to be a broad overreach of the federal government’s authority. ### |