Republican governors called on President Joe Biden to delay the implementation of a new federal water rule pending a Supreme Court decision in a case related to the Clean Water Act (CWA) expected this summer.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) sent the letter (pdf) to Biden administration officials to delay the implementation of the revised Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which the RGA said would “create new bureaucratic hurdles at the state level only for the court’s decision to potentially render them moot.”
“The WOTUS definition has been under scrutiny for nearly twenty years, and your Administration’s rule only further complicates the efforts to create certainty under the CWA for rural communities,” the letter stated. “The problem is exacerbated by the pending Supreme Court ruling. The final WOTUS rule released during the holidays is concerning in terms of timing, substance, and process.”…