Obama Vetoes GOP bid to Kill Clean Water Rule

WASHINGTON (January 20, 2016) — President Obama has acted promptly to veto a measure passed by the Republican-led Congress designed to kill the Clean Water Rule.

The following is a statement by Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council: 

“Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, polluters and their allies in Congress failed to undermine protections for water bodies that American families rely on for fishing, swimming, and drinking water.  We are enormously grateful for the administration's work to develop and defend the Clean Water Rule from attacks that would weaken safeguards for clean water.”

The Clean Water Rule, issued last year by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, restores protection under the Clean Water Act to lakes, streams and wetlands that help prevent flooding, filter pollution and supply one in three Americans with safe drinking water.  The vetoed legislation--a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act--would have blocked the rule and rolled back those protections.

Based on the House and Senate votes on the resolution, Republicans lack the votes in either chamber to override the President’s veto.