WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08), a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, released the following statement upon the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announcing the improved definition for "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule:

“The Obama Administration’s WOTUS rule was overreaching and detrimental to American farmers. We can protect our natural resources without infringing on the rights of millions of Americans, and I thank President Trump and Administrator Wheeler for taking decisive action to balance the need for regulatory certainty with the protection of our natural resources. I look forward to seeing the positive economic and conservation impacts of this new WOTUS rule,” said Rep. Austin Scott.

In March 2014, the Obama administration released a regulation that would assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over nearly all areas with even the slightest of connections to water resources, including man-made conveyances. Specifically, the Obama WOTUS rule attempted to expand agency control over 60% of our country’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands that were previously non-jurisdictional.

Today’s new Navigable Waters Protection Rule ends decades of uncertainty over where federal jurisdiction begins and ends. For the first time, EPA and the Army are recognizing the difference between federally protected wetlands and state protected wetlands. It adheres to the statutory limits of the agencies’ authority. It also ensures that America’s water protections – among the best in the world – remain strong, while giving our states and tribes the certainty to manage their waters in ways that best protect their natural resources and local economies

Additional information on the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, including fact sheets, are available at: https://www.epa.gov/nwpr.

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