House Votes to Halt Waters of the U.S. Rule

On Tuesday, May 12, the House voted 261-155 to pass HR 1732 the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act. The bill stops the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule from going into effect and allows the agencies, states and local stakeholders the opportunity to work together on a new rule. The bill also mandates that a comprehensive economic analysis be conducted to fully study the rule's economic impact.

In the Senate, a hearing was held on Tuesday, May 19, on S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which is a similar version of the recently passed House bill. The full Senate Environmental Public Works Committee is expected to vote on the bill in the next few weeks. The WOTUS rule was proposed last year and has been one of the most highly contentious rules from the Obama Administration in recent years. NRMCA is concerned about how expansion of federal jurisdiction over marginal waters would place an undue burden on ready mixed concrete operations, aggregate operations and new construction starts.