WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule to formally roll back the Obama administration’s overly burdensome Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule, which, if enacted, would have amounted to one of the largest federal land grabs in U.S. history. Thune has long advocated for overturning the rule and has co-sponsored legislation that would have achieved that goal. 

“WOTUS was one of the most ill-conceived ideas to have ever emerged from a federal government agency – the kind of idea that gives the federal bureaucracy a bad name,” Thune said. “Opening up nearly every body of water, no matter how large or small they might be, to federal jurisdiction would be a nightmare for property owners and producers in South Dakota and around the country. While WOTUS was tangled in legal battles during the final years of the Obama administration, the uncertainty still hung over the heads of farmers and ranchers, which is why I’m glad this administration followed through on its commitment to unravel this rule once and for all.”

 

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