Iowa reps, senators ask Trump to scrap water rule

Five of Iowa's six members of Congress have written President-elect Donald Trump, urging him to scrap the controversial Waters of the United States rule when he takes office in January.

Calling the Environmental Protection Agency's WOTUS rule 'an economic assault on small businesses, manufacturing and agriculture,” the five Republicans said it 'threatens the very livelihood of our fellow Iowans.”

Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Reps. Rod Blum, David Young and Steve King - all Republicans - went on to say those industries are the backbone of rural America.

'The election results signaled that Americans are ready for the last eight years of EPA's power-grabbing mentality to come to an end,” they added.

Second District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack did not sign the letter because believes the process needs to play out, according to his spokesman Joe Hand.

'He will fight to ensure Iowans have access to clean water, but will intervene when necessary to protect farmers from burdensome regulations,” Hand said.

The Iowa Republicans are likely to find Trump to be more sympathetic to their request than President Barack Obama, who vetoed a resolution of disapproval of WOTUS regulations, which passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate.

'We strongly encourage you to use all the tools at your disposal to free the American people from this blatant overreach,” the members of Congress said. 'We also respectfully urge you to direct your EPA to craft a common-sense rule that clarifies the scope of the Clean Waters Act and does so by taking into consideration the input of all stakeholders.”

During his campaign for the White House, Trump signaled that he wanted to lighten the regulatory burden on farmers and businesses. In late October, while campaigning in Cedar Rapids, Trump said he wanted to end what he called 'this war on the American farmers” by Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, he warned, 'would 'shut down family farms” with EPA regulations, including WOTUS.

The Republican representatives and senators said they support the intent of the Clean Water Act to address pollution problems in navigable waters and improve water quality through a local-state-federal partnership. But, they said, the 'expanded WOTUS definition far exceeds what was originally intended.”

Through WOTUS, they said, the EPA is trying to expand jurisdiction over waters not originally covered as well as on private land. They have argued WOTUS could give EPA power to regulate activities on 97 percent of Iowa land.

A U.S. Court of Appeals has issued a nationwide stay blocking enforcement of WOTUS, but settling that litigation could take years, the Iowa members of Congress said. In the meantime, Iowa farmers and businesses are left with uncertainty and concern the EPA will attempt to enforce it through a piecemeal approach.