After bipartisan passage in both chambers of the U.S. Congress, President Obama on January 20 vetoed Senate Joint Resolution 22, which would have disapproved the EPA's "Waters of the United States" rule. The Iowa Cattlemen's Association strongly supports a full repeal of the WOTUS language and is disappointed by the president's move. Other farm groups also quickly criticized Obama's veto and vowed to continue fighting the implementation of WOTUS.

Related: President vetoes WOTUS disapproval bill

WOTUS WOES: President Obama's veto yesterday of a resolution to stop the expanded definition of EPA's "Waters of the U.S." rule has farm leaders disappointed. The rule is viewed by many involved in agriculture as impractical, unworkable government regulatory overreach.

Thirty-two states and countless stakeholders have challenged the WOTUS rule, which failed to bring clarity and stability to the ag industry. In addition, the Government Accountability Office is currently reviewing EPA's tactics to promote the rule, including social media campaigns that may be considered "covert propaganda" to drum up support for the rule among the American public.

The WOTUS rule is currently not in effect in Iowa, due to a temporary stay issued by the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals last October. That action last fall prevents implementation of the rule until the Court can determine jurisdiction over the many pending lawsuits that have been filed against the rule.

Farmers, ranchers and others see WOTUS as a flawed rule
"The WOTUS rule has been a major concern for our members. Iowa's cattlemen are dedicated to improving water quality, but this rule has generated mass confusion," says Phil Reemtsma, president of the Iowa Cattlemen's Association. "The rule, as currently written, would prohibit Iowa cattlemen from taking proactive measures to protect water quality in the state." He says ICA will continue to work toward getting a full repeal of WOTUS and will continue to encourage members to take voluntary measures on their farms to protect water quality.

The bill Obama vetoed was introduced in the Senate by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican. "The U.S. House passage last week of my legislation to scrap the expanded WOTUS rule was a major step forward toward for stopping this blatant EPA power grab," Ernst says. "Our farmers and ranchers know how to care for and conserve their own land without harmful interference of Washington bureaucrats. When the bill went to his desk, President Obama had to decide between an unchecked federal agency or the livelihoods of the people in our rural communities."

The bill Obama vetoed would have rolled back the WOTUS rule. But now that the bill has been vetoed and the WOTUS rule is still on the books, where do we go from here? In a conference call yesterday with media, Iowa's other Republican U.S. Senator, Chuck Grassley, answered that question: What happens next?

WOTUS will likely eventually be decided by Supreme Court
"There are other checks and balances in government, and those are mainly in our court system," says Grassley. "The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has put a nationwide injunction against EPA on this, keeping EPA from moving ahead on WOTUS for the time being. So right now, no one has to fear that this rule will be enforced by EPA. The WOTUS rule will be held up I think until we get to a point of some district court hearing this case on its merits, and whatever they decide I presume will be appealed by the loser in the case. With that scenario in mind, I think this case will probably go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Will WOTUS eventually be held in check and not be able to be enforced, like it is now? "I don't know," says Grassley. "That will be up to the courts to decide. But we have failed here in the sense of the three things we can do at the Congressional level. We write a bill, put an amendment on an appropriation bill or do what Senator Ernst did. That is, write legislation that disapproves the EPA's WOTUS rule and tries to throw it out. But we didn't succeed in any of these three moves. We tried all of them."

When Grassley talks about being in abeyance, a federal court did put a stay on implementing this WOTUS rule, pending further developments. "So, the WOTUS rule isn't in effect now, but the law is still on the books and we'll be hearing more about it later on," says Grassley.