EPA power grab? Pols, states claim new water reg could bring feds into your backyard

By Kelley Vlahos November 22, 2013

A river runs through it -- and Uncle Sam isn't far behind.  That's what several Republican lawmakers and even state farming groups and local governments are warning, after a draft rule from the Environmental Protection Agency proposed expanding which waterways are federally protected under the Clean Water Act.

The concern is that the move could give the feds authority over virtually any stream or ditch, and hand environmentalists another way to sue property owners. In other words, critics say, the government might soon be able to declare jurisdiction over a seasonal stream in your backyard.   If so, good luck getting a permit to expand building space on your property, or marketing your land to prospective developers. ….To Read More….

My Take - The EPA says these concerns are unfounded because the Supreme Court has already defined the CWA in a very narrow way saying; "The proposed rule would not expand EPA's or the (Army Corps of Engineers') jurisdiction or protect any new waters that have not historically been covered under the Clean Water Act", and they further state; "In fact, the proposed rule specifically takes into account the more narrow reading of Clean Water Act jurisdiction established by the Supreme Court."

Okay, then if that's the case why do they need this rule? Do we really believe we won't get regulatory creep from the EPA? Is there any rational person in the world who trusts the EPA, an agency filled with radical environmentalists, to see things outside the framework of their own ideology?

If there was any doubt about the value of this rule we have to remember that this is being rushed through without the agencies own science advisory group having the opportunity to review the "science underpinning this rule", and let's face it....."The devil is in the details."

However, even if all things were equal for me the determining factor for deciding whether this rule is corruption in the making is that fact that the Sierra Club supports it, claiming those against it claiming "industry and members of Congress calling EPA's actions an overreach are the same people who deny science and reasonable environmental protections on a whole host of other issues". While that sounds impressive to the uninitiated those who have paid attention to these things for many years find the word "reasonable" is a profanity when uttered by someone at the Sierra Club.

One more thing.  I have so little confidence in anything the EPA says that if someone at this agency told me day was light and night was dark, I'd have to go outside and check it out for myself.