{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases/hoeven-epa-issues-proposed-wotus-rule-to-protect-property-rights-bring-regulation-into-compliance-with-the-law", "Hoeven: EPA Issues Proposed WOTUS Rule to Protect Property Rights, Bring Regulation Into Compliance With the Law", "2025-11-17", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "Senate", "ND", "John Hoeven", "H001061", "www.hoeven.senate.gov", "hoeven", "https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "Hoeven: EPA Issues Proposed WOTUS Rule to Protect Property Rights, Bring Regulation Into Compliance With the Law\n\nSenator Worked to Protect Against Biden and Obama-Era Overreach, Prevent Implementation of Expanded WOTUS Definitions\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to restore the traditional definition of \u201cwaters of the U.S.\u201d (WOTUS). Once finalized, the rule will:\n\nReverse the expanded, overreaching WOTUS definition, which was advanced by both the Obama and Biden administrations.\n\nThese rules sought to expand federal regulatory authority beyond the limits established under the Clean Water Act.\n\nThis would have imposed unworkable mandates, burdensome new permitting requirements and compliance costs on landowners, energy and agriculture producers and other industries.\n\nBring the WOTUS rule in compliance with the Supreme Court\u2019s Sackett v. EPA ruling from 2023.\n\nReduce the regulatory burden, provide certainty to a wide range of industries and limit federal authority to navigable waters, consistent with the Clean Water Act.\n\nThe senator has been working with the Trump administration to advance this new rulemaking, stressing the importance of protecting both private property rights and the role of states in managing water resources within their borders.\n\nThis follows Hoeven\u2019s efforts to protect against the implementation of previously expansive WOTUS rules.\n\nThe EPA will accept public comments on the proposed rule for 45 days. Interested stakeholders may submit their feedback here once the proposed rule has been published in the Federal Register.\n\n\u201cThe impact of the Biden-era WOTUS rule would have been far-reaching and costly. Our farmers, ranchers and energy producers, among many others, would have been bogged down in federal permitting for everyday activities, imposing an unworkable regulatory burden and inflating not only their operating costs, but ultimately prices for consumers,\u201d said Hoeven. \u201cThat\u2019s why I worked to hold back this regulatory overreach under the Biden and Obama administrations and support the Trump administration in advancing a WOTUS definition that respects private property rights and the regulatory role of states. I appreciate Administrator Zeldin for working with us on this priority, and I encourage North Dakotans to submit their feedback to the EPA to ensure the final rule meets the needs of our state.\u201d\n\nPrior to today\u2019s announcement, Hoeven worked to push back against regulatory overreach by the Biden and Obama administrations, having:\n\nHelped introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval, which Congress passed, to rescind the expanded WOTUS rule. The resolution was subsequently vetoed by President Biden.\n\nHelped introduce legislation in the 117th Congress to codify the first Trump administration\u2019s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), which replaced the 2015 Obama WOTUS rule.\n\nHoeven previously worked to advance the NWPR, following his efforts to defund WOTUS in 2015 and 2016 and prevent its implementation.\n\nJoined his colleagues in submitting an amicus brief in Sackett v. EPA, urging the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to preserve state authority to regulate local waters and lands.\n\nPressed the EPA and the Army Corps to suspend rulemaking on WOTUS until SCOTUS completed its consideration of Sackett v. EPA.\n\n-###-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "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://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases/hoeven-epa-issues-proposed-wotus-rule-to-protect-property-rights-bring-regulation-into-compliance-with-the-law"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4201521407812834, "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"}