June 28, 2017

Manchin Statement on EPA & Army Corp's WOTUS Annoucment

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the following statement on the joint proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers. It is the first step toward reversing the Obama-era “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule that expanded the types of waterways subject to federal regulation.

“I’m happy to see these agencies moving forward with re-evaluating this rule which was overly burdensome to a huge number of economic activities in West Virginia, including highway and road construction, pipeline projects, transmission line projects, farming, flood control measures, housing construction and public works projects,” Senator Manchin said. “We all want to drink clean water and breathe clean air, but we can achieve this without regulating hard-working West Virginians and Americans out of business. As issued, the rule represented broad agency overreach.”

The WOTUS rule was finalized in August of 2015 but is currently subject to a nationwide stay while legal challenges are considered. In the previous Congress, Senator Manchin introduced the Water Quality Protection Act to ensure that states and local communities are consulted in meaningful ways on regulations before they are formally proposed, especially if the rule will have a significant impact on future investments, capital costs, and operations.

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