On September 9, 2014, he voted in favor of H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014. The purpose of the act was to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers from moving forward with a change to the Clean Water Rule, which defines "waters of the United States" (the EPA is tasked with protecting the waters of the United States). Farmers feared that the rule would include their drainage ditches, while the EPA said that it would apply only to waters found in wetlands next to larger bodies that are 'waters of the United States'." H.R. 5078 passed but never took effect because the related Senate bill was never acted on. On January 13, 2016, he voted to invoke cloture on a joint resolution repealing the Clean Water Rule that defines "waters of the United States" which fall under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers and the EPA. The resolution was vetoed by President Obama.