{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-files-amicus-brief-challenge-overreaching-wotus-rule", "Newhouse Files Amicus Brief to Challenge Overreaching WOTUS Rule", "2022-04-20", "2022", "2022-04", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u2013 Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after filing an amicus brief with Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Rodney Davis (R-IL) for the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (Sackett), which could determine the viability of the Obama-era \u201cwaters of the United States\u201d (WOTUS) rule under the Clean Water Act.\n\n\u201cThe Clean Water Act (CWA) was never intended to place the livelihoods of our farmers and ranchers at risk; rather, it\u2019s goal was to create a limited federal regulatory presence in cooperation with the States. Unfortunately, bureaucrats under the Obama Administration twisted the language of the CWA until they could justify their intended goal: ceding authority over nearly every body of water in the United States to the EPA. Now the Biden Administration seeks to do the same,\u201d said Rep. Newhouse. \u201cWe are urging the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the Sacketts\u2014allowing them to build upon their own property\u2014and provide much-needed certainty for farmers and ranchers in Central Washington and across the country. This case presents an opportunity to return to the law\u2019s original intent, and this amicus brief highlights the importance of preserving private property rights and the role of states and local communities as the principal regulators of local waters and lands.\u201d\n\nThe amicus brief outlines the importance of environmental federalism and how a poorly-defined Clean Water Act hinders environmental protection by interfering with more effective state, local, and private action. As the brief states, \u201cSimply put, the incredible ecological variety throughout the nation makes one-size-fits-all national environmental regulation unworkable,\u201d and \u201cenvironmental protection and conservation remain core, traditional areas of state and local regulation.\u201d\n\nThe brief also provides a legislative history and analysis of congressional intent: \u201cThe Clean Water Act\u2019s history confirms what its text makes clear: Congress did not give EPA power to regulate land like the Sacketts\u2019 under the Act\u2019s permit provisions.\u201d\n\nClick here to read the full text of the amicus brief.\n\nOn April 18, Rep. Newhouse (WA-04) led 64 of his Congressional Western Caucus Members, among the 155 House Republicans and 46 Senators, in filing an additional amicus brief in support of the petitioners in Sackett.\n\nBackground:\n\nOn March 9, Rep. Newhouse, Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (MO-06), and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (NC-07) led over 200 House Republicans\u2014including every Member of the Western Caucus\u2014in calling for the Biden Administration to drop its plan to expand the scope of \u201cwaters of the United States\u201d (WOTUS) until Sackett v. EPA is decided by the Supreme Court.\n\nIn January, Rep. Newhouse and Rep. Miller-Meeks called on the Administration to halt the rulemaking process, based on the Supreme Court\u2019s decision to take up the Sackett case.\n\nIn March, Rep. Newhouse hosted Rep. Davis, Illinois Farm Bureau President Rich Guebert, and Charles Yates of the Pacific Legal Foundation, one of the contributing lawyers in the Sackett v. EPA case, to discuss the impacts WOTUS has on rural communities and potential implications of the Supreme Court decision.\n\nWhen the Biden Administration announced their intention to revise and remand the Trump Administration\u2019s Navigable Waters Protection Rule, Rep. Newhouse, Rep. Miller-Meeks, Senator Steve Daines (MT), and Senator Joni Ernst (IA) led Western Caucus Members in a bicameral letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham to express their serious concerns and demand answers about the Administration\u2019s plans to reopen the definition of \u201cwaters of the United States.\u201d\n\nIn November of 2021, Western Caucus Members from across the country issued statements in response to the Administration\u2019s proposed rule.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:19:30Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-files-amicus-brief-challenge-overreaching-wotus-rule"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9336150251328945, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}