June 2, 2015

Water Rule Is Another Washington Power Grab


  1. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers issued a final rule that expands federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to non-navigable waters.
  2. The rule is another Washington power grab that has more to do with controlling land-use decisions than ensuring access to clean water. 
  3. Republicans have better, bipartisan solutions such as S.1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act.

“Not only does this rule break promises EPA has made, but it claims federal powers even beyond what EPA originally proposed a year ago. This will drastically affect – for the worse – the ability of many Americans to use and enjoy their property.”

Sen. Jim Inhofe, Fox News op-ed, 6/2/2015

On May 27, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly issued a final rule expanding the definition of “waters of the United States” for purposes of the Clean Water Act. It would extend federal jurisdiction to irrigation ditches, isolated ponds, prairie potholes, and other non-navigable waters. The rule represents another Washington power grab that has more to do with controlling land-use decisions than ensuring access to clean water.

The rule will force farmers, ranchers, families, home builders, manufacturers, state and local governments, water utilities, timber companies, energy producers, food and beverage businesses, railroads, and a host of other property owners to seek permission from federal bureaucrats before beginning any activity remotely related to water.

Expanding federal jurisdiction to non-navigable waters will expose Americans not only to an expensive and time-consuming application process for Clean Water Act permits, but potentially to ideologically driven mistreatment by regulators who manage that process. Under the Obama administration, federal agencies have routinely exploited permitting authorities to delay and block projects. They have also abused their enforcement authority in order to intimidate Americans.

A barrage of energy regulations

The new water rule is the latest in a series of executive actions that the Obama administration has taken, and plans to take, that will have the effect of constraining energy production and economic growth across the nation. Americans are already struggling under billions of dollars’ worth of new red tape since the president took office, and more is on the way.

JUNE2TABLE

The EPA claims that it fairly weighed input received in more than 400 meetings and from more than one million comments. But a May 18 article in the New York Times reported that the EPA conducted a “campaign that tests the limits of federal lobbying law” when the agency “orchestrated a drive to counter political opposition” and “enlist public support in concert with liberal environmental groups and a grass-roots organization aligned with President Obama.” The report calls into question how many of the supportive comments the federal agencies heard were manufactured by the EPA’s improper lobbying campaign. It suggested that the administration was incapable of weighing feedback in a neutral manner.

On March 25, a bipartisan group of 59 Senators voted in favor of a non-binding budget amendment to limit the administration’s proposed expansion of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. On May 12, 261 members of the House, including 24 Democrats, voted in favor of legislation that would require the EPA and the Army Corps to withdraw the rule and write a new one. Similar legislation in the Senate has 30 co-sponsors.

This dangerous new rule erodes Americans’ property rights, economic opportunity, and standard of living. Republicans are working to support all farmers, ranchers, business owners, and other people who responsibly use our nation’s abundant natural resources to create economic opportunity. 

Issue Tag: Energy