EPA Circumventing Congress…Again
Nicolas Loris /
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing the reputation for moving forward with plans Congress cannot accomplish. Last Congress, Representative Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) tried to expand the powers of the EPA by introducing legislation that would replace the term “navigable waters” in the Clean Water Act with “waters of the U.S.,” which would significantly expand what the EPA could regulate. Reforming the Clean Water Act is necessary, but this is the wrong way to go about it.
Congress rejected the Oberstar-Feingold approach, but now EPA is unilaterally moving forward with its own rules. The Western Business Roundtable obtained a 38-page leaked draft guidance that provides the detail of this expansive and intrusive regulatory policy. The Western Farm Press summarizes the draft, saying,
The guidance will ‘significantly’ expand regulators’ ability to oversee wetlands and other marginal waters compared to earlier guidance prepared by the Bush Administration.