Legislation to Take Control of All Water
Bill Hahn | John Birch Society
15 December 2009
Fox News is reporting that through the Clean Water Restoration Act, “the government now appears poised to wield greater control over private property” and that “even a ‘seasonal puddle’” could be under federal regulatory control with the pending legislation.
Anyone who has ever had the unfortunate experience of having to deal with the legal burden of owning property with what the government deems “navigable” water will cringe at this. Currently all navigable waters are legally regulated through various federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Clean Water Restoration Act removes the word “navigable” from the law and opens all water to regulatory control.
According to Fox News, “The legislation, introduced by Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, has the support of 24 senators. It passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in June but has not been scheduled for a floor vote, though it could be tacked onto other legislation as an amendment.”
However, according to Ducks Unlimited, whose mission it is to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America's waterfowl, the legislation is needed to protect “isolated” wetlands that had protections removed from them in 2001.
In an article titled "Farmers Support Clean Water Restoration Act," the DU site claims that farmers and ranchers lead the efforts protecting land and water while being good stewards.
And Senator Feingold writes, “There are no new regulations in my bill, which was approved by a key Senate Committee earlier this year, only a return to the Clean Water Act protections that have safeguarded our waters for more than 35 years.”
Contrary to the DU statement, the Western Farm Press recently reported that “members of the House and Senate Western Caucuses cited concerns over job loss and regulatory overreach in expressing their strong objections to the Clean Water Restoration Act.”
Members of the caucuses (11 Western senators and 17 Western representatives) wrote in a letter to Congressional leadership, “In the West … where the frontier spirit of smaller government and individual liberty are still sacred traditions, there is overwhelming objection to this bill. We strongly object to any attempt to move this legislation, either as a stand alone bill or as an attachment to a bill, in the Senate or House of Representatives. More specifically, we cannot imagine any bill so important that we could support it with the Clean Water Restoration Act attached.”
The letter continued, “this legislation would grant the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, virtually unlimited regulatory control over all wet areas within a state. This bill attempts to trump state’s rights and pre-empts state and local governments from making local land and water use decisions. This bill will also build an even more expensive, cumbersome bureaucracy which will increase delays in securing permits and will slow or stop vital economic activities all across the country. Commercial and residential real estate development, agriculture, electric transmission, transportation and mining will all be effected. Thousands of jobs will be lost.”
The Western Farm Press reports that the legislation would make it more expensive to “grow crops; manage livestock; provide water to local municipalities; operate and maintain water storage and delivery facilities; and carry out other activities on both public and private lands.”
The Williston Herald of North Dakota wrote, “Farmers and ranchers are under attack from an unprecedented number of government and regulatory groups that have little or no idea of the realities on the American farm.”
In an interview with Burton Eller, Senior Vice-President of Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in Washington, D.C., Eller said that the association faces one of its largest challenges in the Clean Water Restoration Act. He said of it, “This would amount to a massive land-grab by the government.” According to the article, “He said this could also lead to having to obtain permits for activities such as grazing cattle near a mud hole or driving a tractor near a drainage ditch.”
The association’s fact sheet on the Clean Water Restoration Act points out, “Cattlemen don’t oppose efforts to keep our waters clean—in fact, we rely on clean sources of water to feed our animals and nurture our land. The Clean Water Restoration Act would actually hamper the government’s ability to maintain clean waters. They are already struggling to handle a backlog of 15,000 to 20,000 permit requests. At a time when our resources are already stretched thin, it is ridiculous to expand the government’s responsibility to mud holes and other wet areas with little to no environmental value to the public.
The fact sheet sums up the act: “This would amount to a massive land-grab by the government, not to mention an infringement on Americans’ constitutional rights to own and manage property without undue interference from the government.”
Click here to send your opposition to the Clean Water Restoration Act, courtesy of The John Birch Society.
SOURCE:
http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5767-legislation-to-take-control-of-all-water
