WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) today voted to support the Federal Water Quality Protection Act (S. 1140), bipartisan legislation that would direct the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the flawed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and issue a revised proposal.
“The WOTUS rule will unduly burden businesses, utilities, manufacturers, farmers, builders and land owners across Indiana,” said Coats. “Federal courts agree and have stayed the WOTUS rule pending review. The bill the Senate considered today would have constructively addressed these issues in a bipartisan manner. I am disappointed that a majority of Senate Democrats voted to further cede authority from Congress to unelected federal bureaucrats at the EPA. It is now vitally important that Congress moves quickly to act on the pending resolution to disapprove of the WOTUS rule.”
In a recent opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the WOTUS rule, pending further review. The state of Indiana was one of the petitioners in this case. Earlier this year, a North Dakota federal district court issued a limited stay affecting 13 states.
The cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the Federal Water Quality Protection Act failed 57-41, with 60 votes necessary to move forward.
