World Net Daily
A federal judge has ruled that the Environmental Protect Agency overstepped its authority when it determined that water itself is a pollutant and could not be allowed into several Virginia streams. The ruling was applauded by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who estimated the decision could save Virginia taxpayers more than $300 million. “Stormwater runoff is not a pollutant, so EPA is not authorized to regulate it…,” wrote the judge, Liam O’Grady. “Claiming that stormwater maximum load is a surrogate for sediment, which is a pollutant and therefore regulable, does not bring stormwater within the ambit of EPA’s … authority. “EPA cannot be allowed to exceed its clearly limited statutory authority.”
The EPA had told the state that it must cut the flow of water to address the flow of sediment along the bottom of Accotink Creek. “In regulating the flow rate of stormwater into the creek, the agency was trying to regulate water itself as a pollutant, rather than the sediment. The attorney general challenged the EPA’s action as exceeding the agency’s legal authority to regulate pollutants under the Clean Water Act. These restrictions also would have diverted public funds that could be spent more effectively on stream restoration for Accotink Creek and other waterways in the region,” the AG’s office said in a statement.
My Take - Amazing! The state of Oregon claims the state owns the rainwater that lands on your property and the EPA says its a pollutant. Ok....let's see a show of hands! How many people have read Animal House and 1984 by George Orwell? I do wish there were more. RK
No comments:
Post a Comment