WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released the following statement today after President Trump announced “Step 2” of his administration’s efforts to repeal the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Senator Fischer has long been a proponent of scaling back the 2015 WOTUS rule.

“I applaud the Trump administration for taking this next step which includes a much narrower definition of “Waters of the United States” than the 2015 rule. This helps to put Nebraskans back in charge of our state’s own precious water resources. It will also address the higher costs and federal overreach that the Obama-era regulations would have put on Nebraskans,” said Senator Fischer.

Step 1, which was announced in October, repealed the Obama administration’s WOTUS rule. Step 2, known as The Navigable Waters Protection Rule, now offers a more narrow definition of protected waterways relative to the Obama rule.

Senator Fischer has been a leader in efforts to stop the 2015 WOTUS rule. After the Obama administration announced WOTUS, Senator Fischer chaired a field hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in Lincoln regarding the rule. She also helped introduce the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which would have required the Obama administration to consult states and stakeholders before imposing federal regulations on state-owned water resources, as well as the Defending Rivers from Overreaching Policies (DROP) Act. This bill targeted the flawed science used by the EPA to expand the definition of water.