WASHINGTON – North Dakota’s congressional delegation praised a decision of the Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday to restore the definition of “waters of the U.S.” and reverse regulations of the former Biden administration.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, said the actions will bring the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule in compliance with the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA ruling from 2023.

“The Clean Water Act is clear about what constitutes the ‘waters of the U.S.’ Despite this, both the Biden and Obama administrations sought to extend their reach well past federal law to impose burdensome and costly permitting on our farmers, energy producers and construction industry, to name a few,” Hoeven said.. “We’ve been pushing back on this expanded WOTUS rule for years, advancing legislation to block its implementation and defund the regulation, while supporting efforts to fight it in court.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, joined EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Wednesday for the announcement of the definition change. As the EPA rolled out additional deregulation efforts, Cramer issued a statement saying, “Our farmers, ranchers and landowners in North Dakota have always managed their water with the same respect as their land. There are a lot of people in the previous administration who just ignored the Sackett decision. The Biden rule was like putting a highway patrolman on every car, to seek their permission to go 65. This is a great new day, and I think you’ll be overwhelmed with good comments from Midwestern farmers. I look forward to participating and finding common ground based on common sense.”

Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, R-ND, said the Trump administration’s action aims to overturn 31 regulations.

“This administration is taking decisive action to eliminate unnecessary, burdensome regulations that have made it harder for our energy producers to power the country and for our farmers to feed the world,” Fedorchak said. “My first congressional action was writing a letter to President Trump urging him to promptly overturn 20 burdensome Biden-administration rules as soon as possible. Today, six of those rules were targeted to be overturned. By rolling back these costly regulations, we’re restoring common sense and releasing our farmers and energy producers to do their jobs.”