[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 122 (Thursday, July 31, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5302-S5303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MUDDYING THE WATERS
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have
printed in the Record a column written by Mr. Dennis Sun, Publisher of
the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, entitled ``Muddying the Waters.'' The
article was published on June 21 of this year.
Through this recently proposed Clean Water Act jurisdictional rule,
Federal agencies are attempting to expand the definition of ``waters of
the United States'' to include ditches and other dry areas where water
flows only for a
[[Page S5303]]
short duration after rainfall. Federal regulations have never defined
ditches and other upland drainage features as waters of the United
States. But this proposed rule does, and it will have a huge impact on
farmers, ranchers and small businesses that need to put a shovel in the
ground to make a living.
Dennis knows what the true impact of this rule will be to rural
communities. He is a fourth-generation rancher from Central, WY. Mr.
Sun stated in his column that ``according to the EPA, the proposed
definition of waters of the U.S. would increase predictability and
consistency for CWA programs, and as a lot of folks see it--that's
right--we know we would go out of business instead of just maybe.'''
Dennis goes on to say that ``our government has run amuck, and we
shouldn't like it. . .'' He is right. This proposed rule by the
administration is circumventing Congress by effectively writing
navigable out of the Clean Water Act, thus allowing the EPA and Army
Corps of Engineers to seize all wet areas of the States. Just as
troubling as ignoring congressional intent, the proposed rule
disregards the fundamental tenet embodied in two landmark cases decided
by the U.S. Supreme Court that there are limits to Federal
jurisdiction.
This unprecedented exercise of power will allow Environmental
Protection Agency to trump States' rights and wipe out the authority of
State and local governments to make local land and water use decisions.
This is particularly troubling when we have seen no evidence that the
States are misusing or otherwise failing to meet their
responsibilities.
The uncertainty this rule creates only delays economic investment and
job creation. It defies logic to think this proposed rule will benefit
anybody but bureaucrats in Washington who are far removed from the
communities between the coasts.
Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to stand with ranchers like
Dennis Sun. Stand with those who understand the land best and not with
extremists outside and within this administration who do not know how
to run a farm, a ranch, or a small business.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, June 21, 2014]
Muddying the Waters
(By Dennis Sun)
As we all realized on April 21, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
posted their proposed definition for ``waters of the U.S.''
protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in the Federal
Register, and that triggered a 90-day public comment period.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said during a Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that current exemptions
for the CWA permitting for normal farming, ranching and
agricultural practices are kept intact in the proposal.
She added, ``If a farmer was not legally required to have a
permit before, this rule does not change that status. The
proposal does not add or expand the scope of waters protected
under the CWA.''
Well, after those words, the fight was on by those in the
farming and ranching industry, along with local governments
and the nation's business community. According to the EPA,
the proposed definition of waters of the U.S. would increase
predictability and consistency for CWA programs, and as a lot
of folks see it--that's right--we know we would go out of
business instead of just ``maybe.''
At the same time, 231 U.S. Representatives sent a letter to
the EPA and Corp of Engineers asking them to back off this
proposed rule to expand federal control under the CWA. They
said the proposed rule would redefine waters of the U.S.
under the CWA based on a narrow opinion by Justice Anthony
Kennedy in a 2006 Supreme Court decision that said an
isolated water, like a stock pond or a ditch, doesn't have to
have a surface water connection to a downstream navigable
water to be considered a ``waters of the United States.''
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the plurality opinion on the
case, and his opinion differed from Kennedy's by saying that
waters of the U.S. include only those relatively permanent,
standing or continuously flowing bodies of water like
streams, rivers and lakes. Justice Scalia specifically noted
that waters of the U.S. do not include channels that only
hold water periodically and are only wetlands with a
continuous surface connection to bodies of water that are
waters of the U.S.
The EPA and Corps chose to base the final rule on the
Kennedy opinion. That was a concern that the Congressmen
raised in their letter, which read, ``Contrary to your
agencies' claims this would directly contract prior U.S.
Supreme Court decisions which imposed limits on the extent of
federal CWA authority. Based on legally and scientifically
unsound view of the significant nexus concept espoused by
Justice Kennedy, the rule would place features such as
ditches, ephemeral drainages, ponds, natural and manmade,
seeps, prairie potholes, flood plains and other occasionally
or seasonally wet areas under federal control.''
There lies the fight. Congressman Chris Collins (R-N.Y.)
said, ``Enough is enough with regard to federal overreach on
U.S. farms and ranches. When the bureaucrats at the EPA
decide to call a divot in the ground that fills with rain a
navigable waterway under the CWA, we know that our federal
government has run amuck.''
Well, our government has run amuck, and we shouldn't like
it--that is all the reason to get your comments in before the
Oct. 20 deadline. This deadline extension gives us a valuable
opportunity so take advantage of it. If you're wondering just
how to submit your comments, read more in this week's
Roundup.
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