Obama Vetoes Clean Water Rule Takedown By Sara Jerome

Obama Vetoes Clean Water Rule Takedown By Sara Jerome @sarmje President Obama vetoed a congressional measure that would have overturned federal clean water regulations, issuing the ninth veto of his presidency on Tuesday. "Too many of our waters have been left vulnerable," Obama said, per USA Today. "Pollution from upstream sources ends up in the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters near which most Americans live and on which they depend for their drinking water, recreation, and economic development." Congress had passed legislation striking down water regulations passed by the U.S. EPA. “Congressional Republicans tried to use a rarely invoked law known as the Congressional Review Act to overturn the regulation. But they're far short of the two-thirds vote necessary in each chamber to overturn the veto. It passed 53 to 44 in the Senate and 253 to 166 in the House,” the report said. The federal Clean Water Rule expands the number of U.S. waterways regulated by the federal government. The EPA argues that the rule is necessary to protect waterways and because Supreme Court decisions make it unclear what the agency may regulate under the Clean Water Act. Opponents, including congressional Republicans and the agriculture industry, say the EPA overstepped its bounds in rolling out the new regulation. But even with Obama’s veto, the rules remain in jeopardy. Court challenges make it unclear whether the rules will become fully implemented. This courtroom battle is just one of several major water fights expected in 2016. That’s because agricultural interests out West are fighting federal enforcement of existing regulations as well as the implementation of new rules, Capital Press reported. A few of the most important legal battles, as described by Capital Press: • In California, the Duarte Nursery is seeking to overturn a finding by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that switching from spring to winter wheat resulted in plowing activities that affected wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act. • In Wyoming, farmer Andy Johnson is challenging a finding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that construction of a stock pond unlawfully discharged pollutants into a stream without a Clean Water Act permit. • Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case in which landowners want the right to contest a federal determination that their property is subject to Clean Water Act regulations. For the latest Clean Water Act developments, visit Water Online’s Source Water Solutions Center.