Central ND News

Senator John Hoeven announced that the Trump administration plans to restore the traditional definition of "waters of the U.S." (WOTUS). This move aims to reverse what is described as regulatory overreach by the Biden administration and align with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Sackett v. EPA.

"The Clean Water Act is clear about what constitutes the ‘waters of the U.S.’ Despite this, both the Biden and Obama administrations sought to extend their reach well past federal law to impose burdensome and costly permitting on our farmers, energy producers and construction industry, to name a few," said Hoeven. He further stated that efforts have been ongoing for years to push back against these expanded regulations. "We welcome today’s announcement to roll back the latest iteration of WOTUS and look forward to working with the Trump administration to ensure North Dakotans’ concerns are addressed as this rule is brought back into line with federal law."

Hoeven has actively opposed previous expansions of WOTUS rules under both Biden and Obama administrations. These expansions reportedly imposed challenging mandates, new permitting requirements, and compliance costs on landowners, energy producers, agriculture producers, and other industries.

The senator's actions included helping introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval aimed at rescinding the expanded WOTUS rule—a resolution later vetoed by President Biden. Additionally, Hoeven worked on legislation during the 117th Congress intended to codify the first Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), which replaced Obama's 2015 WOTUS rule.

Furthermore, Hoeven joined colleagues in submitting an amicus brief in Sackett v. EPA urging SCOTUS to maintain state authority over local waters and lands. He also urged both EPA and Army Corps to delay rulemaking on WOTUS until SCOTUS had resolved its deliberations on Sackett v. EPA.