On April 18, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote to override President Joe Biden’s veto of H.J. Res. 27, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers’ 2023 revised Waters of the United States regulation. ABC has key voted today’s vote and issued an action alert.

President Biden vetoed H.J. Res. 27, which passed both chambers of Congress with strong bipartisan support. While the override is unlikely to garner the 2/3 vote of the chamber required, this resolution rebukes the Biden administration’s flawed, burdensome and overreaching WOTUS rule that will result in sweeping changes to the federal government’s authority to regulate what is considered a navigable water, with enormous impacts on small businesses, developers and contractors. The Biden WOTUS rule is set to cause building delays due to regulatory uncertainty, increased permitting and mitigation costs, and make it more difficult and expensive to grow food, produce energy and build critical infrastructure for the 21st century.

On March 29, ABC sent a key vote letter to the House supporting H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. H.R. 1 is top priority legislation for the 118th Congress and contains several permitting reform provisions, including the ABC-supported BUILDER Act, which will go a long way toward eliminating unnecessary delays that cause budget overruns in construction. The BUILDER Act codifies key elements of the One Federal Decision Framework, including development by the lead agency of a joint schedule; procedures to elevate delays or disputes; preparation of a single environmental impact statement; and joint Record of Decision—all to the extent practicable, set, reasonable time limits are imposed for environmental reviews and establish reasonable page limits for environmental documents. Additionally, the energy and commerce division of H.R. 1 focuses on expanding American energy production potential by repealing the natural gas tax and the green bank provisions of the reckless tax and spend Inflation Reduction Act.

ABC also issued an action alert in support of the bill.

On March 9, the House passed H.J. Res. 27, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers 2023 revised Waters of the United States regulation. ABC key voted the resolution which passed by a bipartisan 227-198 vote, with nine Democrats joining Republicans in support and only one Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, opposing.

The Biden Administration’s flawed, burdensome, and overreaching WOTUS rule will result in sweeping changes to the federal government’s authority to regulate what is considered a navigable water, with enormous impacts on small businesses, developers and contractors. The rule will cause building delays due to regulatory uncertainty, plus increased permitting and mitigation costs.

On March 9, the White House releases the President’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which renews calls for tax hikes to support Democrats federal spending priorities in the coming years. ABC joined a broad coalition of organizations in a letter opposing the president’s tax hikes, which would hit small businesses the hardest.

While the president’s budget is not typically approved by Congress, it highlights the administration’s priorities for the coming year and provides a blueprint for his message should he decide to seek another term in office. Throughout the budget proposal, the President also calls for the creation of union only jobs on critical federal construction projects, alluding to the administration’s continued support for ABC-opposed policies that will limit job-opportunities for hard-working Americans in the construction industry.

On March 9, the House is scheduled to consider H.J. Res. 27, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers 2023 revised Waters of the United States regulation.

The Biden Administration’s flawed, burdensome, and overreaching WOTUS rule will result in sweeping changes to the federal government’s authority to regulate what is considered a navigable water, with enormous impacts on small businesses, developers and contractors. The rule will cause building delays due to regulatory uncertainty, plus increased permitting and mitigation costs.

On Feb. 27, ABC joined broad coalition of industry stakeholders in support of the CRA during committee consideration, and will be key voting this resolution for our scorecard on the 118th Congress.

On Feb. 7, the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing titled, “Stakeholder Perspectives on Impacts of the Biden Administration’s Water of the United States Rule.” Prior to the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the subcommittee expressing opposition to the Biden Administration’s WOTUS Rule, and also issued a statement of support for a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) on the Biden Administration’s flawed and burdensome “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule (H.J. Res. 27). An identical measure was also introduced in the Senate by 49 Senators, led by Environment and Public Works Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va.