CO Republicans vote to stop WOTUS

House vote would overturn 2023 Clean Water Act definitions of the Waters of the United States

Colorado’s Congressional delegation voted along party lines Thursday as the U.S. House voted 227-198 to approve a resolution to overturn the 2023 Waters of the United States rules.

The rules are a source of contention, especially in the west where their enforcement is seen as government overreach that would cause unnecessary burdens on rural Americans.

The term “WOTUS” actually refers to a definition of the waters that would be affected by the 1972 Clean Water Act. Republican administrations want to restrict the definition to rivers, lakes and other bodies of water commonly used for commerce or recreation; Democrat administrations typically want to include adjoining wetlands, canals, ditches and other bodies.

Thursday’s vote would overturn the latest definitions enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency under the auspices of Pres. Joe Biden’s administration.

Colorado’s Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican representing the state’s Fourth Congressional District, issued a statement on the vote Friday that summed up the Republican view of the Biden definition.

“Today, I voted to stop and overturn the Biden Administration’s ridiculous 2023 WOTUS rule. This disastrous rule is an attack on rural Americans and would give the government more power to regulate every puddle, ditch, and gully in eastern Colorado,” Buck said. “I know that farmers, ranchers, and landowners across Colorado are stewards of the land and don’t need more burdensome regulations in our way from unelected bureaucrats in Washington D.C.”

Colorado’s five Democrats in the House all voted against the resolution while the three Republicans voted for it.

The resolution says, in its entirety, “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’” (88 Fed. Reg. 3004 (January 18, 2023)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.”

The vote is largely symbolic, as the resolution isn’t expected to be approved in the Democratic-controlled Senate,