Repeal “Waters of the U.S.” Rule

Chairman Conaway Supports Bill to Stop “Waters of the United States” Proposed Rule, Posted on May 14, 2015 Written by House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway

Today, House Agri­cul­ture Com­mit­tee Chair­man K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) spoke in sup­port of H.R. 1732, the Reg­u­la­tory Integrity Act of 2015. The bill, which would force the Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engi­neers to stop mov­ing for­ward with the pro­posed “Waters of the United States” rule, passed the House by a vote of 261–155.

Chair­man Conaway’s floor statement: I rise today in strong sup­port of H.R. 1732, the Reg­u­la­tory Integrity Pro­tec­tion Act of 2015. I can­not stress enough the impor­tance of this leg­is­la­tion to stop the Obama Administration’s “Waters of the United States” pro­posed rule and its dam­ag­ing impacts on our country.

This rule, in its cur­rent form, is a mas­sive over­reach of EPA’s author­ity and will impact nearly every farmer and rancher in Amer­ica. It gives EPA the abil­ity to reg­u­late essen­tially any body of water they want, includ­ing farm ponds and even ditches that are dry for most of the year. The EPA’s defense of this rule is that it pro­vides clar­ity to pro­duc­ers regard­ing what is and is not reg­u­lated, but in real­ity, this rule will allow nearly every body of water in the United States to be con­trolled by fed­eral regulators.

What makes the rule ambigu­ous is the claim made by EPA and the Army Corps that the rule is not all encom­pass­ing, yet the agen­cies also declared they will use their best pro­fes­sional judg­ment on when they will reg­u­late a water and when they will not. These vague state­ments hold lit­tle com­fort for farm­ers and ranch­ers who will face steep civil fines for any violation.

For these rea­sons, I strongly sup­port this leg­is­la­tion that forces EPA and the Corps to stop mov­ing for­ward with the pro­posed “Waters of the U.S.” rule and do as they should have from the begin­ning — work with states and local stake­hold­ers to develop a new and proper set of rec­om­men­da­tions. It is imper­a­tive that the Admin­is­tra­tion lis­ten to rural America.

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  Filed Under: Agriculture, Federalism/State Sovereignty, Natural Resources, Property Rights, Water Rights
  http://agenda21news.com/2015/05/chairman-conaway-supports-bill-to-stop-waters-of-the-united-states-proposed-rule/#more-5728
  Comments
  Without water rights, property rights are void and property values are worthless.  The government has never “owned” all the water in the U.S., property owners have owned it. The federal government is not allowed to own property except for its buildings and military bases according to the U.S. Constitution (as written).
  Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader