WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today commended the Trump administration for finalizing its new, better defined Waters of the US (WOTUS) rule.
Cassidy had long criticized the Obama-era WOTUS rule for its burdensome and confusing regulations, as well as its infringement on private citizens’ property rights. The rule was considered by many Louisiana farmers, construction workers and energy producers to be a broad overreach of the federal government’s authority.
“Clean water and common-sense regulation – President Trump’s WOTUS rule achieves both. Louisiana workers now have needed certainty to plan for their futures and further contribute to our nation’s robust economy,” said Dr. Cassidy.
The new WOTUS rule clearly defines what water is protected and what water is not, removing the confusion caused by the old rule.
WOTUS is now defined as:
- Territorial seas and traditional navigable waters
- Perennial and intermittent tributaries to those waters
- Certain lakes, ponds and impoundments
- Wetlands adjacent to jurisdictional waters.
WOTUS is not:
- Features that contain water only as a response to rainfall
- Groundwater
- Many ditches, including most roadside and farm ditches
- Farm and stock watering ponds
- Prior converted crop land.
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