Roberts calls EPA’s water rule ‘egregious federal overreach’

In response to the release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finalized Waters of the United States rule, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, released a condemnation of its contents on Wednesday.

“I am sorry to say, as expected, the rule is bad news for rural America,” Roberts said. “As chairman of the Agriculture Committee, I’m proud to champion agriculture. We will lead the charge in pushing back against EPA’s egregious federal overreach.”

Roberts was chiefly concerned with the final rule’s failure to account for the concerns of agricultural and rural citizens, who expressed their disapproval for some of the rule’s measures at hearings and through public comments. Additionally, a New York Times story suggests that the EPA used a grassroots campaign to generate public support for the rule during the commenting period.

“That’s why I have helped introduced the Federal Water Quality Protection Act. This requires EPA to go back to the drawing board and restart the rulemaking process to include stakeholders – especially agriculture,” Roberts said. “All of us want to protect clean water, especially agriculture. However, farmers and ranchers cannot be ignored.”