On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, blasted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) after they unveiled the finalized Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation.
On March 25, 2014, the EPA and the Corps released a proposed rule that would assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over nearly all areas with even the slightest of connections to water resources, including man-made conveyances.
On May 1, 2014, Congressman Gosar and 230 of his colleagues sent a letter to Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the EPA, and John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army, urging them to withdraw the proposed rule.
On January 28, 2015, Congressman Gosar introduced H.R. 594, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act. This legislation has the support of 185 bipartisan cosponsors.
On May 12, 2015, the House passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act, by a vote of 261-155. This critical legislation requires the EPA and Corps of Engineers to formally withdraw the agencies’ proposed rule that would redefine WOTUS and any subsequent final rule. Congressman Gosar joined the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Bill Shuster in introducing this bill.
More than 200 organizations and local municipalities have publicly declared their opposition to the proposed WOTUS rule.
“This job-killing, overreaching water grab being imposed by Washington bureaucrats is a dream killer for future generations and local economies,” stated Gosar.
“The EPA claims this overreaching proposal ‘has a foundation in science.’ However, we have consistently seen this nontransparent agency cite secret science that is not reviewable to support its extremist environmentalist proposals,” said Gosar.
“The EPA claims this new regulation was ‘shaped by public input.’ Yet, we recently learned that the EPA used taxpayer dollars to unleash a propaganda campaign in an attempt to rally comments and support for this WOTUS regulation despite the Anti-Lobbying Act which bans such actions. Additionally, states and local governments that have traditionally managed these waterways and activities were not included in drafting the proposed rule,” continued Gosar.
“The EPA claims this ‘rule is grounded in law.’ Yet, this overreaching regulation contradicts prior Supreme Court decisions by expanding agency control over 60% of our country’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands that were previously non-jurisdictional. Despite claiming the rule reduces agency jurisdiction, the final rule imposes new regulations for navigable waters and their tributaries, potholes, ditches, bays and even waters that are ‘next to rivers and lakes,’” concluded Gosar.
Gosar alleged that the “WOTUS rule has been built on a foundation of pseudo-science, deception and lawlessness. This overreach is so extreme that 24 members of the president’s own party joined members in the House in passing legislation calling for the formal removal of the rule that was finalized today. The EPA has solidified itself as a rogue wing of Obama’s far-left army of environmental extremists. Like many of the president’s other executive overreaches, I doubt this new regulation will withstand judicial review. Hard-working Americans don’t deserve to have such a terrible proposal implemented by executive decree.”
According to Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis, in spite of thousands of public comments raising serious concerns, including from governors and on-the-ground stakeholders throughout the country, the Environmental Protection Agency has finalized the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. This rule marks an unprecedented federal seizure of management and control over waters previously under state jurisdiction.
“It is simply incredible that the Administration has managed to so thoroughly disregard the concerns of governors and stakeholders in what has been a broken public process,” said Chairman Lummis. “This is nothing short of a federal seizure of state waters, to the point where very few, if any, water bodies will be left for the states to manage. Water rights, economic growth, and local conservation efforts will suffer. Instead of working with the local officials and state agencies who know their needs the best, citizens will have to depend on a disconnected federal bureaucracy for management of our most precious natural resource: our water. With bipartisan bills addressing this rule being advanced through both the House and Senate, Congress needs to step up and make sure the EPA does not have final say over this.”