[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H571-H572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NAVIGABLE WATERS PROTECTION RULE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the 
pleasure of joining the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army 
Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for an event announcing 
NWPA, or the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, a rule that will replace 
the flawed 2015 WOTUS, Waters of the United States rule.
  For decades, there has been confusion and never-ending litigation 
over WOTUS. During my time as chairman of the House Agriculture 
Committee's Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee, which included 
watersheds and oversees environmental policy regarding agriculture, I 
heard from many farmers and ranchers, landowners, and environmental 
advocates about just how harmful WOTUS was to their businesses and to 
their way of life.
  WOTUS was a gross overreach and particularly dangerous for the 
agriculture industry, as vast new areas of farmlands would be subject 
to the Clean Water Act and costly new permitting mandates for the very 
first time, even beyond our farms and ranches. Anyone who owned 
any property, private property rights would be

[[Page H572]]

regulated. Ninety-nine percent of Pennsylvania was swept under these 
overreaching WOTUS regulations.

  In addition to taking away States' authority to manage water 
resources, the 2015 WOTUS rule expanded the Clean Water Act far beyond 
the law's historical limits of navigable waters and the long-held 
intent of Congress. Instead of providing much-needed clarity to the 
Clean Water Act, WOTUS created even more confusion.
  Thankfully, the negative impact of WOTUS was brought to an end when 
the Trump administration repealed it this past fall.
  I support the Clean Water Act, and I agree that it must be clarified. 
However, this must be done without undue burdens on farmers, 
landowners, private property owners, and commercial activities that are 
already effectively regulated by the States.
  Times have been very tough over the past decade for many farmers in 
rural areas. An average farm income was nearly halved during that 
period. Regulatory uncertainty--notably, the former WOTUS rule--only 
made things more difficult.
  I am confident, however, that the new Navigable Waters Protection 
Rule is a step in the right direction and will address many of the 
regulatory gray areas that WOTUS did not. This new rule clearly defines 
four commonsense categories of Federal waters that would be regulated, 
while providing clarity on what is not regulated. This includes 
ditches, isolated ponds, and prior converted croplands.
  The Navigable Waters Protection Rule will still support strong water 
protections without compromising the rights of States and without 
unnecessary burdens to the agriculture industry.
  With clearly defined State and Federal regulations, our Nation's 
farmers can continue to focus on what they provide all of us: food, 
fiber, building materials, and energy that we all rely upon.

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