Trump to nix EPA power grab over mud puddles

Washington Examiner:
President Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday scrapping a controversial Environmental Protection Agency rule that expanded the agency's jurisdiction over the nation's waterways during the second term of former President Obama.

The regulation, known as the Waters of the U.S. rule, broadened the definition of the type of water body that would fall under EPA's formidable clean water enforcement powers, making everything from streams to ditches and watering holes subject to the EPA's and Army Corps of Engineers' oversight.

The rule has been a top target for the GOP on Capitol Hill for more than two years, with Republicans and some Democrats opposing the regulation, which was renamed the Clean Water Rule after being made final by EPA. Trump vowed to repeal the regulation during his campaign. The executive order is meant to be a sign that he intends to keep his promises to supporters, who want to rein in the Obama administration's overreaching rules.

The executive order makes the legal argument that the rule oversteps the agencies' statutory authority, and therefore must be remanded back to the agencies and reconsidered, White House officials told reporters.
...
The rule is being challenged in the courts and in Congress.  With new direction at the EPA, it looks like this rule will be drastically changed or altogether killed.  It always had the appearance of an overreach by the environmental wackos.

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