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Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works released a report documenting numerous examples of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) illegally expanding authority over land and waters not under agency jurisdiction:
“The Obama Administration and desperate leaders at the EPA have continued their all-out assault on the Rule of Law and commonsense. The report released by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the EPA and Corps have illegally expanded their jurisdiction beyond clear limitations on the Clean Water Act that have been imposed by the Courts and Congress.
“In a historic display of incompetence, today’s Senate report documents that the EPA is literally making a mountain out of a molehill for one California farmer. This stunning spectacle of government overreach cannot be dismissed by Congress. Numerous case studies document that time after time this rogue agency has unlawfully regulated dry land, family farms and even puddles. I will continue leading the charge in the House to block the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation and hold the EPA accountable to the American people. This lawlessness must cease.”
Background (Courtesy of Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works):
The full text of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works report can be found HERE. Highlights are listed below:
The following conclusions can be drawn from these case studies: EPA and the Corps have and will continue to advance very broad claims of jurisdiction based on discretionary authority to define their own jurisdiction.
The WOTUS rule would codify the agencies’ broadest theories of jurisdiction, which Justice Kennedy recently called “ominous.”
Landowners will not be able to rely on current statutory exemptions or the new regulatory exemptions because the agencies have narrowed the exemptions in practice and simply regulate under another name. For example, if activity takes place on land that is wet:
- plowing to shallow depths is not exempt when the Corps calls the soil between furrows “mini mountain ranges,” “uplands,” and “dry land;”
- discing is regulated even though it is a type of plowing;
- changing from one agricultural commodity constitutes a new use that eliminates the exemption;
- puddles, tire ruts, sheet flow, and standing water all can be renamed “disturbed wetlands” and regulated.
If Congress does not act, the newly won ability to challenge Corps jurisdictional determinations and claim exemptions will be moot because the WOTUS rule establishes jurisdiction by rule that will extend to all the activities described in the case studies.
Background (Courtesy of Rep. Gosar’s office)
On March 25, 2014, the EPA and the Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule that would assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over nearly all areas with even the slightest of connections to water resources, including man-made conveyances. Specifically, WOTUS attempts to expand agency control over 60% of our country’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands that were previously non-jurisdictional.
On May 1, 2014, Congressman Gosar and 230 of his colleagues sent a letter to Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the EPA, and John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army, urging them to withdraw the proposed rule. The full text of that letter can be found HERE.
On January 28, 2015, Congressman Gosar introduced H.R. 594, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act. This legislation has the support of 186 bipartisan cosponsors. Click HERE to read more about the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act.
On May 12, 2015, the House passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act, by a vote of 261-155. This critical legislation requires the EPA and Corps of Engineers to formally withdraw the agencies’ proposed rule that would redefine WOTUS and any subsequent final rule. Congressman Gosar joined the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Bill Shuster in introducing this bill. Click HERE to read more.
In July of 2015, Congressman Gosar berated EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and submitted revelatory evidence into the Congressional Record from senior Army Corps of Engineer employees which expressed serious legal and scientific deficiencies with the final draft of the WOTUS rule.
On October 9, 2015, a federal appeals court issued a nationwide stay blocking the implementation of the EPA’s WOTUS rule resulting from a lawsuit filed by 13 states, including the state of Arizona. More information HERE.
In January of 2016, the House and Senate passed legislation blocking WOTUS utilizing the Congressional Review Act and put a bill on President Obama's desk that he subsequently vetoed.
On April 1, 2016, 120 bipartisan members joined Congressman Gosar in signing and submitting this appropriations request to prohibit implementation of the WOTUS rules should the stay be lifted. The full text of Congressman’s language request can be found HERE.
More than 200 organizations and local municipalities have publicly declared their opposition to the proposed WOTUS rule.
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