[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11084]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               EPA DEEMS OWNERSHIP OF AMERICA'S WATERWAYS

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, well, they are at it again. It is another 
overreach by this administration. This time, the U.S. EPA is reaching 
not only what you might term navigable waterways, but all waterways of 
the United States they want to deem as theirs.
  This would mean mud puddles, and this would mean irrigation ditches 
and drainage ditches. They want to have jurisdiction over everything, 
so they can regulate it, tax it, and what-have-you.
  It goes way beyond anything that has ever been legislated in this 
body and is a complete overreach. The U.S. EPA needs to withdraw this 
proposed rule. It is outside of the law.
  It is outside of the ability of our people to have private property 
rights and to have an economy, especially in rural America, where 
farming, ranching, and timber operations can all be affected by a vast 
overreach by the U.S. EPA.
  They need to withdraw this rule. We need to hear from the American 
people how this is going to affect them in their jobs in their local 
economies.

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