Today, the House passed a joint resolution to disapprove the Waters of the United States rule under a Congressional Review Act. This resolution would nullify the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to redefine “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.

The Illinois Corn Growers Association asked members to call their representatives yesterday, advocating they support the resolution.  Prior action from the Senate disapproving WOTUS now sends a solid signal that the regulatory overreach on behalf of the U.S. EPA in the WOTUS rule is definitely against Congressional intent.

“Today’s passage of this resolution is a critical step toward stopping what some believe to be the largest federal land grab in history. From the beginning, the process of developing this rule was flawed by EPA ignoring input from stakeholders, and even other agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers. American’s farmers and ranchers deserve to have a government that will review and consider their thoughts,” said House Ag Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway.

The House and Senate passed identical resolutions so there is no need for a conference.  The resolution now goes to the President for his 

signature or veto.  All expectations are that President Obama will quickly veto the bill and when it returns to Congress, they will not have the 2/3 vote to override the veto. 

Although the resolution is not likely to ever become law or overthrow the EPA’s rule, it will be useful as a talking point for Republicans in the Presidential election and will likely be used in lawsuits indicating that Congressional intent was that certain waters not be regulated.

The roll call vote for the Illinois delegation is as follows:

Yeas
Bost
Rodney Davis
Dold
Hultgren
Kinzinger
LaHood
Roskam
Shimkus

Nays
Bustos
Danny Davis
Duckworth
Foster
Gutierrez
Kelly
Lipinski
Quigley
Rush
Schakowsky