Walden Co-Sponsors Water Bill

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) has co-sponsored a bill that would block a proposal by the Obama Administration to unilaterally increase their regulatory authority over the nation’s waters.

The “Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act” (H.R. 5078) passed the House on a bipartisan vote on Tuesday.

“Ranchers in Eastern Oregon wonder about their stock ponds,” Walden said. “Wheat growers in the Columbia Basin worry about an intermittent stream adjacent to a field. Fruit growers in Hood River and onion growers in Ontario are concerned about their irrigation ditches. This proposed rule is based on faulty science and it underestimates the tremendous harm it poses to our rural economies.”

The Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act would uphold the current federal-state partnership of water regulation and preserve the existing limited regulation of the “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The bill blocks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing a proposed rule to expand the scope of their authority over water, which would have harmful effects on ranchers, farmers, and other water users, said Walden.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 262-152, with 35 Democrats joining 227 Republicans in support. This legislation now heads to the Senate to be considered.