BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) release of a new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule following the Sackett v. EPA U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Specifically, today’s final rule declines to define the “relatively permanent” standard and subverts the standard notice and comment procedure for rulemaking.
“The Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision was one of the most prescriptive, unambiguous decisions written. It is baffling how the Biden administration could take something so clear and muddy the waters by grasping for authority they do not have. Let it go.”
Background:
Senator Cramer released a statement following the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision in May. Later, he sent a letter in June calling on the Biden administration to provide a “clear and swift change in administrative direction” regarding the pending WOTUS rule to adhere to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
In April 2022, Senator Cramer and 200 of his Congressional colleagues filed an amicus brief supporting Sackett v. EPA petitioners. Additionally, in February 2022, Senator Cramer and his Republican EPW colleagues sent a letter requesting the Biden administration halt its plans to finalize WOTUS until the Supreme Court decided Sackett v. EPA. Weeks earlier, he joined a related effort alongside Senator John Thune (R-SD).