[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7072]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            PROTECTING NORTH CAROLINA FARMERS AND LANDOWNERS

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, in 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a rule that would 
significantly broaden the Federal Government's power to regulate waters 
and adjacent lands under the Clean Water Act.
  The Waters of the United States rule would give the Federal 
Government jurisdiction over puddles, roadside ditches, irrigation 
ditches, and storm and wastewater systems. Federal agencies frequently 
place burdensome regulations on the American public, and this rule is 
no exception.
  Fortunately, last week, the House passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory 
Integrity Protection Act, which would require the agencies to start 
over and develop a new rule in consultation with State and local 
governments and other stakeholders. This commonsense legislation 
prevents an out-of-touch administration from threatening the livelihood 
of North Carolina's farmers and saddling local governments with 
exorbitant compliance costs.

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