Biden Accused of ‘Regulatory Abuse’ in Waters Rule by House GOP

The Biden administration’s new waters of the US, or WOTUS, rule involves “tortuous and costly” efforts to determine whether “sometimes wet” land is protected under the Clean Water Act, Garrett Hawkins, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, told a congressional subcommittee Wednesday.

Republicans on a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee railed against the rule. Full committee chair Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) called it a “massive overreach of regulatory abuse,” saying that farmers are in a perpetual state of uncertainty about whether many agricultural water bodies receive federal protections.

The EPA in December finalized the rule, which resurrects wide federal protections ...