WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2015 – Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts says he’s talking to his counterpart at the Environment and Public Works Committee about how to attack the Obama administration’s proposed rule re-defining the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. The Kansas Republican did not rule out moving legislation that would roll back the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule.
EPW Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., has already indicated that the WOTUS rule will be a top priority for him.
“We’re talking to EPW to see what we can do,” Roberts told Agri-Pulse. “It’s the No. 1 issue out there right now in terms of regulatory overkill.”
Any standalone legislation on the issue would likely meet with a presidential veto, but bringing a bill to the floor would allow Republican leaders to force Democrats to vote on the issue.
Republicans also are expected try to block the WOTUS rule via a policy rider on an appropriations bills. Stopping such policy riders would be harder for the president politically, since it would require him to veto the underlying spending legislation, risking a government shutdown.
Because of the importance of the appropriations process, Kansas’ other GOP senator, Jerry Moran, also will be positioned this year to play a key role in agriculture and food policy. Moran on Tuesday was named chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which writes the spending bills for the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration. Moran said he would focus personally on how USDA is implementing the farm bill to make sure it has “the necessary resources and right focus and priorities.”
Another issue Moran will face is funding the FDA’s implementation of a series of new regulations that must be implemented under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Congress has so far rejected the administration’s request for user fees to fund the extra inspections and oversight. He wouldn’t say whether he considered the agency adequately funded.
Another issue Moran will face is funding the FDA’s implementation of a series of new regulations that must be implemented under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Congress has so far rejected the administration’s request for user fees to fund the extra inspections and oversight. He wouldn’t say whether he considered the agency adequately funded.
“There are things that maybe we ought not fund at all, there are things that are appropriately funded, and there are things that may be deserving of additional funding. We’ll sort out what those things are and I certainly want this FDA process to work significantly better than it is today.”
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