U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania criticized the new “Waters of the United States” rule, saying it unjustly expands federal authority and will hurt his state’s agricultural industry.
The finalized clean water rule, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, aims to protect streams and wetlands from pollution. The EPA rule also claims jurisdiction over a large number of unnavigable waterways, adding more than 20 percent of isolated wetlands to the umbrella of agency regulation, much of which is on private property.
“What the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are trying to do under this administration is clearly illegal,” said Thompson, who is chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry.
A 2006 Supreme Court decision left the scope of the EPA’s authority murky, and a clearer definition of what waters fall under its jurisdiction is an idea supported across party lines. However, this attempt to define the scope of the jurisdiction exceeds the authority the EPA has under the Clean Water Act, argues Thompson.
This rule, he said, is an attempt to administratively change the Act by extending its jurisdiction.
Thompson vowed to continue holding hearings about the waters report. “Nothing sanitizes bad administrative policy better than sunlight,” he said.
There is also a problem of impracticality. Farmers would often need to submit requests for permits to the EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers for various uses of waterways that fall on their private land, which Thompson argues would grind the agriculture industry to a halt.
“One out of every seven Pennsylvanians owes their job directly or indirectly to agriculture,” said Thompson, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania’s 5th District. “(With) the amount of time until the EPA would even get around to issuing permits, economic opportunities would be missed.”
Moving forward, the House passed the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 earlier this month with bipartisan support, which would overturn the rule. Additionally, Thompson suggested ensuring that no money be spent in enforcement of the rule through an appropriations amendment.
“My challenge to the Obama administration is: tell us where the Clean Water Act has failed,” said Thompson. “I’m a big fan of the Clean Water Act of how it has been written and implemented. We’ve seen tremendous gains. I see no scientific proof to show non-navigable waters have been creating problems.”