WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Republican senators urge EPA to swiftly repeal and replace Obama-era water rule
The GOP letter was sent to EPA chief Scott Pruitt on the last day to submit public comment on the Trump administration’s proposal to scale back the rule, which President Trump ordered under one of his first executive orders as commander in chief. “The courts have been clear that a federal agency may not exceed the statutory authority granted to it by Congress,” the senators wrote, adding that Congress never granted EPA the authority to regulate in many of the areas covered under the 2015 WOTUS rule. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, led 10 senators on the letter, which included former committee chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. The senators included: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, John Boozman of Arkansas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Dan Sullivan of Arkansas, and Richard Shelby of Alabama.
