Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) became original co-sponsors of legislation on Thursday that would prevent the EPA from expanding federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The Protecting Water and Property Rights Act would halt an EPA and Army Corps of Engineers proposal to expand the definition of “waters of the United States” under the CWA to include tributaries and adjacent waters and wetlands.
“After already calling on the EPA and Army Corps to withdraw the proposed rule, I want to make sure that the expansion of regulatory jurisdiction over ‘waters of the United States’ is shelved for good,” Roberts said. “This straightforward legislation prohibits the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the secretary of the Army from finalizing the rule or trying a similar regulation in the future.”
The EPA proposal would extend federal jurisdiction to temporary bodies of water like ditches for storm water runoff on private property. It would remove the “navigable waters” provision of the CWA that Congress established to limit federal authority.
“The EPA’s proposed water rule is another blatant overreach into Americans’ private lives and property by the Obama administration,” Blunt said. “Not only would it have a devastating impact on Missouri farm families, it would also inflict serious harm on productive activities like the construction of homes, businesses, roads and even the development of energy.”
In 2013, 52 senators supported an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that would have taken similar steps to prevent expansion of federal jurisdiction.