WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) new final Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition:

“The regulatory ping pong of WOTUS regulations will seemingly never end. Establishing a new WOTUS definition before the Supreme Court has ruled on Sackett v. EPA only adds to the regulatory confusion. When Administrator Regan and Assistant Administrator Fox visited North Dakota, I reiterated the empowerment of EPA and Army Corps bureaucrats by giving them federal authority over non-navigable ponds, ditches, and potholes is a recipe for disaster. Our state is and will be the epicenter of this debate and we have been a leader in the fight against federal overreach of our waters. We need an enduring, legally defensible rule to provide regulatory certainty. I look forward to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter.” 

Background: 

In February 2022, Senator Cramer and his Republican colleagues on the EPW committee sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor requesting the Biden Administration immediately halt plans to finalize a novel definition of WOTUS until after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA. Learn more here. 

Senator Cramer also joined Senator John Thune (R-SD) and the entire Senate Republican Conference in urging the EPA and Army Corps to suspend the pending rulemaking to redefine the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act, specifically WOTUS, until the U.S. Supreme Court completes its consideration of Sackett v. EPA, a case that is expected to have major implications on CWA scope and enforcement. Learn more here. 

Last November, Senator Cramer hosted EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham in Bismarck for a WOTUS listening session. At the listening session, Assistant Administrator Fox and Acting Assistant Secretary Pinkham heard firsthand from farmers, landowners, and stakeholders who deal with WOTUS as EPA works to craft a new rule. Learn more here.