Alexander Says Trump Administration Has Taken 1st Step Toward Stopping Regulation Of Tennessee Farmers’ Mud Puddles

Senator Lamar Alexander on Tuesday released the following statement on President Trump’s executive order that starts the process for stopping an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ rule that could have given the federal government authority to regulate nearly all water in the country:

“The Trump administration today has taken a first step toward stopping Washington’s regulation of Tennessee farmers’ mud puddles.

I’ve been fighting this 2015 rule since it was announced because it gave the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers the ability to regulate nearly all the water in the country. I’m glad the administration is working towards ending it.”

Senator Alexander, who is chairman of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee which funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has cosponsored legislation to prohibit and voted to prohibit the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the Waters of the United States rule.

The rule went into effect on May 27, 2015, and defined what qualifies as a “navigable” waterway subject to the Clean Water Act. On Oct. 9, 2015, the U.S. 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that delayed enforcement on the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Waters of the United States rule.