Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley joined 4th District House Representative Steve King in expressing their approval of Tuesday’s announcement that the Trump administration was taking steps to repeal the controversial Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. Implemented by the Obama administration, Grassley has long been an ardent opponent of the rule giving authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate wetland and tributary pollution that then travels into the nation’s rivers. He says the rule would have defined 97 percent of the land in Iowa as a waterway. “This was a bad regulation drafted under a bad process,” he says. “The EPA over-reached its authority and ignored or manipulated legitimate concerns raised by the public.” King says this is a win for farmers, ranchers and private landowners around the country and that “Obama’s water grab has finally been flushed.” Had it been left in place, King adds, there would have been dire economic consequences for both the state and the nation. Ernst says she is pleased with this important step and that it is “Good news for Iowa and rural communities across the country as we move closer to finally eliminating this overreaching rule.”
