The Obama administration’s effort to implement a controversial Clean Water Rule was politicized and “scientifically deficient,” House Republicans concluded in a 181-page report they released Thursday.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which issued the report, condemned the Waters of the United States rule, which took effect in 2015 and gives the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers broader powers over U.S. streams, wetlands and other bodies of water.
The report accused the EPA of rushing the WOTUS rule with an accelerated timeline that was motivated by politics, and said the EPA ignored scientific evidence that could have contradicted the need for more regulation.
The GOP report determined the accelerated timeline pushed by the EPA ignored the Army Corps as well as “important recommendations and concerns” about the new rule from the Small Business Administration, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, state officials and the public.
“WOTUS was a doomed rule out of the gate,” said Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. “The Obama administration prioritized politics over policy by rushing through a legally and scientifically deficient rule. This report illustrates the many ways in which the White House and EPA abused their authority to advance one of their top regulatory priorities.”
Democrats disputed the GOP report on Thursday, and said the Government Accountability Office concluded the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers fully complied with the law during the rule making process.
“Contrary to Republican claims that the rule was rushed through for political reasons and not based on science, witnesses interviewed by the Committee explained that the rule making process took several years, which was typical for similar rulemakings, and they considered a wide variety of views and comments from stakeholders,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, of Maryland, who is the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said Thursday.
In May, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the rule can be challenged in federal court, opening the door to lawsuits.
Farmers have been highly critical of the new rule, arguing it impedes business and infringes on the rights of property owners by exposing them to regulation because of very small bodies of water on their land.
