WASHINGTON — Congressman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and former Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry, lauded the end of the Waters of the United States Rule.

The Environment Protection Agency and Army Corp of Engineers announced the end of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule on Thursday.

“EPA and Army Corps’ announcement brings an end to the multi-year battle over the Obama Administration’s attempt to vastly expand federal jurisdiction over land use practices,” Thompson said. “WOTUS would have placed an unworkable regulatory burden on farmers and others who depend upon the land for their livelihood, subjecting landowners and localities to additional federal permitting for infrastructure, farming, flood control, and energy production projects.”

The congressman continued, “I applaud the work of the Trump Administration to finally put this issue to rest, in order to provide landowners certainty and relief from the clutches of this heavy handed regulation that would have truly devastated the rural economy.”

In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers implemented the Waters of the United States regulation. This rule vastly expanded the reach of the Clean Water Act to include areas far beyond the historical limits of the law and applied to nearly all waters, including ephemeral waters and ditches.

Thursday’s announcement by the EPA and Army Corps restores the long-established limits to interstate navigable waters.