Joe Donnelly: “whether you are a farmer or a small business owner, a Republican, a Democrat or someone who works at the EPA, we all…”

“whether you are a farmer or a small business owner, a Republican, a Democrat or someone who works at the EPA, we all want clean water. If we are going to ensure that our clean water protections are effective, we need to work together and we need to use the feedback from the people who work with the land every single day. Unfortunately, the EPA's waters of the United States rule was written without sufficient collaboration with some of the people who care about this rule the most--our farmers, our small business owners, our cities and States. As a result, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has blocked the implementation of the waters of the United States rule, known as WOTUS, nationwide. This ruling was in line with the concerns we have raised all along. When you write a rule without significant input from all of those impacted, including our farmers, ranchers, small business owners, and local governments, legal challenges are inevitable. Instead of further lengthy and costly court battles, Congress should act to clarify the coverage of the Clean Water Act or the courts will do that job instead of us. It is time to roll up our sleeves and provide to our ag producers, conservationists, and county and local governments the regulatory certainty they need to continue efforts to improve water quality.…”