Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined 253 Members of Congress in passing S.J.Res. 22, a resolution intended to stop the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the Obama Administration’s controversial Clean Water Rule.  The rule, which was implemented in June 2015 in spite of widespread opposition among the public and in Congress, broadly expands the agencies’ jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.  S.J.Res. 22 would use the Congressional Review Act to prevent the rule from being enacted and bring the agencies’ actions back in line with congressional intent. 

“After seven years of the Obama Administration, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at EPA’s voracious appetite for expanding its power, regardless of public opinion or the impact that its onerous regulations have on states and on farmers and ranchers,” said Simpson.  “It also shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that a concerned Congress would utilize its authority to prevent this harmful rule from going into effect—and that I should wholeheartedly support that effort.  There are major problems with the way that the EPA has claimed jurisdiction over state-regulated waters.  This rule will have a devastating impact on Idaho if it is allowed to move forward.”

The Congressional Review Act guards against federal agencies imposing economically burdensome regulations.  Simpson, who has long fought against efforts to expand the EPA’s control over state waters, is a cosponsor of the House version of the resolution, H.J.Res. 59.  He chairs the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the budget of the Corps of Engineers.  He also sits on the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the budget of the EPA.