LaMalfa votes to strike down WOTUS rule

Congressman Doug LaMalfa voted in favor of a Congressional Review Act resolution to strike down the Biden Administration’s updated Waters of the United States rule. LaMalfa was one of 195 Republican members of Congress who introduced the resolution last month.

The Biden Administration’s flawed and burdensome WOTUS rule will lead to sweeping changes to the federal government’s authority to regulate what is considered a navigable water, with enormous impacts on small businesses, manufacturers, farmers, home and infrastructure builders, water districts and private property owners. The Clean Water Act was signed into law in 1972. This new rule is an attempt to use regulations to create powers for federal agencies that were never granted explicitly.  Congress has the authority and responsibility to review onerous rules, such as this, to preserve regulatory clarity and prevent overzealous, unnecessary and broadly defined Federal power.

“Private landowners will be crushed under the weight of the Biden administration’s regulatory regime,” LaMalfa said. “It’s up to Congress and the Supreme Court to do everything in our power to strike down this overreaching rule. Washington bureaucrats should not be able to tell landowners what to do on their private property or issue huge fines if they don’t obtain a permit for basic farming operations like plowing and ditch maintenance. This rule goes well beyond farming and could affect any American that wanted to build a patio, a pool, a barn or fix a drainage problem that is affecting their home. The federal government doesn’t own every puddle in America. These agencies need to leave us all alone to live our productive lives without their micromanagement and fees.”