Contact: Jeff Leieritz (202) 905-2104              [email protected]

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 13 – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today released the following statement on the U.S. House of Representatives passage of S.J. Res. 22, which requires the withdrawal of the controversial Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule under the Congressional Review Act. The bill passed by a vote of 253-166.

“The overreaching Waters of the U.S. rule will drive up the cost of doing business for contractors, which will have a negative impact on job creation,” said ABC Senior Director of Legislative Affairs Kristen Swearingen. “By failing to clarify the limits of federal jurisdiction over waterways, this rule adds unneeded time and cost to the permitting process that will have an adverse effect not just on job sites, but throughout the construction economy. ABC supports Congress’ effort to overturn this poorly crafted rule and urges the Obama administration to join the bipartisan majority of Congress in withdrawing the rule.”

Today’s vote by the U.S. House of Representatives follows the Senate’s vote to nullify the WOTUS rule in November 2015. The proposed rule would dramatically expand the scope of federal authority over water and land uses across the country and has met heavy opposition from a wide range of industries, a bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.

ABC has been a vocal opponent of WOTUS since the rule was proposed in April 2014 and announced ahead of the vote that it would consider the vote a key vote on its congressional scorecard. In addition, ABC has:

• Filed comments along with more than 50 ABC chapters to voice deep concern over the rule
• Filed comments with a group of 375 trade associations to oppose the rule
• Filed comments as a member of the Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC) to oppose the rule

To read ABC’s comments click here, to read the group of associations comments click here, to read the WAC comments click here.