CRAMER QUESTIONS EPA’S WATERS OF THE U.S. RULEMAKING

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The controversial Waters of the U.S. rule was the subject of a Congressional hearing today. During the hearing of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, Congressman Kevin Cramer questioned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe on the agency’s actions in pursuit of the rule. He also submitted four letters of opposition to the rule from the local Farm Bureaus of Bottineau, Hettinger, McLean, and Nelson counties.
On March 25, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers released the proposed Waters of the U.S. rule which would grant the federal government unprecedented regulatory authority over nearly all bodies of water including small ponds, creeks, ditches, and other occasionally wet areas, including those found on private property. The proposal had previously failed when introduced as legislation in the 110th and 111th Congress, and contradicts two U.S. Supreme Court decisions establishing limits on federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The EPA averted its independent watchdog Science Advisory Board when releasing the rule, and when Cramer’s committee sent official questions to the Board, the EPA stepped in to prevent them from responding. During today’s hearing, Cramer asked Perciasepe if he believes the law allows the EPA to intercept questions from the committee to the Science Advisory Board, but the Deputy Administrator refused to answer the question.
The rule has been roundly criticized by both parties for its lack of clarity. According to the EPA, 59\% of the “streams” they may claim to regulate are not always wet, only taking on water after rain events. In some cases the alleged water features are so small or temporary they do not even appear on maps. “There could be a drizzle of snowmelt that runs down a mountainside crease, a small spring-fed pond, or a depression in the ground that fills with water after every rain and overflows into the creek below,” says the EPA’s website.
“While the EPA claims to seek clarity in its regulation of water, this proposed rule would result in the exact opposite. The use of broad definitions such as ‘other waters’ only add further confusion to states and landowners trying to determine how far the agency’s implied authority would reach,” said Cramer. “The EPA needs to scrap this rule and go back to the drawing board, or better yet allow Congress to make laws instead of unelected bureaucrats.”
In May Congressman Cramer called on the EPA to change course on the rule, citing its devastating economic impacts, substantial regulatory costs, bureaucratic barriers to economic growth, and severely negative impacts on farms, small businesses, commercial development, road construction and energy production. The letter he signed to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy can be found here https://www.dropbox.com/s/1uqjkac1mdc2xcz/2014-05-09\%20Waters\%20Letter.pdf.
Read this original document at: http://cramer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cramer-questions-epas-waters-of-the-us-rulemaking