President Obama vetoed Senate Joint Resolution 22, disapproval of the EPA’s Waters of the United States rule Jan. 20.

Farm group leaders were quick to react.

“We are disappointed in the president’s veto, especially in light of the recent GAO report that stated EPA engaged in ‘covert propaganda’ in an effort to sell the American public on this rule,” said Chip Bowling, National Corn Growers Association president in a media statement.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Associaiton president Philip Ellis agreed.

“In siding with the EPA, the president has ignored the will of Congress, including members of his own party,” Ellis said in a media statement. “Moreover, he has taken side against the 32 states and countless stakeholders who have challenged the WOTUS rule. With Congress clearly showing their disapproval of this rule, the consequences of WOTUS implementation now rest solely with President Obama.”

President Obama vetoed WOTUS disapproval bill; farm groups react

The Senate voted 53-44 on Nov. 4, 2015, and the House voted 253-166 on Jan. 6, 2016, in support of the resolution.

"The president's veto is salt in the wounds of farmers and ranchers," said American Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall. "We remain mystified as to why he continues to support this fatally flawed rule."

“Rather than ditch the rule, the president ignored the tidal wave of opposition to appease the EPA’s radical agenda,” said Brenda Richards, Public Lands Council president. “Due to the president’s veto, cattle producers, stakeholders, states and ultimately taxpayers are now going to have to spend millions of dollars on litigation to ultimately determine what we already know; the WOTUS rule extends beyond Congressional intent under the Clean Water Act and violates Supreme Court precedent. Once again the regulatory train wreck has landed squarely on America’s rural economy.”

NCBA and PLC field a lawsuit in the Southern District Court in Texas on July 2, 2015. That litigation will continue. While the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals considers jurisdiction, a temporary nationwide stay on the implementation of the WOTUS rule remains in effect.

"We will not rest until this rule is gone," Duvall said.

Source: NCBA, NCGA