The names of Oklahoma U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford are among the 50 Senate Republicans who recently urged the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers against updating their definition of waters protected under the Clean Water Act.
The Senators want the two bodies to pause until the U.S. Supreme Court concludes its consideration of the court battle in Sackett vs. EPA.
“Proceeding with the rulemaking at this time, despite the pending litigation and potentially influential ruling, will only deepen uncertainty within the regulated community,” wrote the senators in a letter to Regan and Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
“It would be irresponsible for EPA and USACE to proceed down a regulatory path that could be invalidated or significantly altered as early as this summer,” they added. “The federal government should not promulgate rules for the sake of political expediency, but rather provide regulatory certainty for stakeholders within the bounds of an agency’s respective statutory authority.”
The Senators also accused the EPA in a “land grab” through a new definition of the WOTUS rule.
“We are foremost troubled to see that the proposed rule exceeds the regulatory authority granted to EPA and USACE by the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule seeks to federalize waters in a land grab that arguably surpasses its 2015 predecessor, improperly
encompassing water features traditionally within the sole purview of states—.”