A proposal that would have required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw its sweeping Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) regulation failed to pass the Senate Tuesday.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Executive Newswatch, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes needed for the cloture motion.
“While the effort to send the flawed Waters of the U.S. rule back to the drawing board fell a few votes short, we applaud members of the U.S. Senate who stood up for farmers and ranchers,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said in a statement. Stallman expressed disappointment in the vote but noted, “We know this issue will remain a critical one for America’s farmers and ranchers, and we will continue our fight to protect them from federal regulatory overreach.”
WOTUS gives the EPA regulatory authority over bodies of water across the U.S., including areas that only sometimes hold water.
Entities across the U.S., including Texas Farm Bureau and AFBF, are fighting the ruling in court.
The water rule was stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in October. The stay puts the Corps’ and EPA’s enforcement of the rule on hold until further determinations can be made.
It is unclear how long the temporary stay will remain in effect.