{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://shuster.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=638", "Shuster Continues Work to Stop Costly Waters of the US Proposal", "2014-11-13", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Bill Shuster", "S001154", "shuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressman Bill Shuster (R-Hollidaysburg), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, submitted comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 (Corps) proposed rule regarding the definition of \u201cwaters of the United States\u201d (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act.\u00a0 The members ultimately want to stop the rule from being finalized.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cEPA and the Corps must abandon the proposed Waters of the United States rule.\u00a0 It presents a grave threat to Americans\u2019 property rights, and its finalization will force landowners throughout the country to live with the unending prospect that their homes, farms, or communities could be subject to ruinous Clean Water Act jurisdictional determinations and litigation,\u201d wrote the Members.\r\n\r\n\tIn the letter, Shuster emphasized that the proposed WOTUS rule presents serious federalism concerns since it would call for an extra-constitutional relationship between the federal government and the States in the regulation of local land-use matters.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe proposed WOTUS rule would significantly increase the amount of private property subject to federal control, including timberland, farmland, and innumerable waterbodies and other private lands.\u00a0 Finalizing the rule would allow the federal government to govern virtually any activity impacting an area where water flows, which means federal government permits would be required for all sorts of routine activities \u2013 including installing a playground in a backyard or extending a driveway \u2013 and would provide a new litigation tool for far-left environmentalists to attack private citizens and businesses.\u00a0 The public comment period for WOTUS ends on November 14th.\r\n\r\n\tAs Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congressman Shuster has led House efforts to stop this damaging rule. In April, he chaired a Congressional field hearing in Altoona to raise awareness of the costly impacts of the proposal. Additionally, before it passed in the House, Shuster first guided H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This legislation prohibits the EPA from implementing the WOTUS rule.\r\n\r\n\tClick here\u00a0to see today\u2019s letter and submitted comments.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://shuster.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=638"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8953089602291584, "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"}