WASHINGTON, D.C. – Straining to retain the assertion of federal authority over lakes, ponds and streams – including farm ponds on private property – President Joe Biden vetoed a congressional move Thursday to repeal the “Waters of the United States” rule that expands federal authority under the Clean Water Act.
Congress voted March 29 to reverse the expansive rule which began under the Obama administration, was restricted during the Trump years but was brought back with federal authority expansion under Biden.
Third District Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids, continuing a near perfect lock-step voting record allied with Biden’s liberal governmental agenda, was the sole vote among the Kansas congressional delegation against repealing the WOTUS rule. The vote in the House passed 227-198 and 53-43 in the Senate with broad support from other Democrats.
Davids office did not respond by presstime to the Review’s request for comment.
The American Farm Bureau Federation and 17 other organizations filed a lawsuit in January against the Environment Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the agencies enforcing Biden’s WOTUS expansion, saying the rule makes clear the agencies “are determined to exert (Clean Water Act) jurisdiction over a staggering range of dry land and water features — whether large or small; permanent, intermittent, or ephemeral; flowing or stagnant; natural or manmade; interstate or intrastate; and no matter how remote from or lacking in a physical connection to actual navigable waters,” the lawsuit states.
Those restriction include but are not limited to farm ponds and lakes on private property like those used for livestock operations. It’s under review by the United State Supreme Court after an Idaho farm couple sued over the rule. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach in February joined a multi-state lawsuit against the Biden Administration taking shape in federal court against the rule as well.