Shuster and Gibbs request information on EPA promotion of WOTUS Rule

U.S. Reps. Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Bob Gibbs (R-Oh), chairmen of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Water Resources and the Environment Subcommittee, respectively, recently requested information about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) promotion of the Waters of the United States Rule. (WOTUS). 

“The revelation by the Government Accountability Office that illegal methods were used to promote their Waters of the United States rule is alarming and deserves further scrutiny,” Gibbs said. “That’s why Chairman Shuster and I are asking the Office of Management and Budget to investigate this matter further. This important issue goes to the very heart of the rulemaking process.”

Based on the Government Accountability Office legal opinion that called the EPA’s actions unlawful, Shuster and Gibbs are requesting information from the Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan. Specifically, the representatives called attention to the EPA’s use of covert propaganda and cooperation with outside groups to garner positive public comments.

“This WOTUS rule has been rammed down the throats of states, local governments, the farming and business communities, and private citizens,” Shuster said. “It was bad enough that EPA flouted the rulemaking process from the beginning and concocted this burdensome regulation on its own, with no regard for the costs and impacts it will have on Americans across the country. The fact that the agency broke the law in its efforts to push through its expansionist agenda demands answers.”