Ben Howe writes over at RedState.com on the EPA latest power-grab:
Just as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used the Clean Air Act to broaden the scope of their authority way beyond its original intention with rules like MACT and CSAPR, the Clean Water Act is becoming a tool of overreach by the out of control agency.
Barack Obama and the EPA’s Lisa Jackson have made it clear through their actions that they will circumvent the legislature by using regulatory enforcement to enact Obama’s green dreams, and now it seems that circumvention includes the Supreme Court of the United States.
During the Bush presidency, a series of Supreme Court decisions acknowledged the limits of reach for the Clean Water Act. Most notably, the Supreme Court clarified that federal jurisdiction did not extend to wetlands and other “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. Through the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook Country v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2001) and Raponos v. U.S. (2006) the Supreme Court established that private property rights still mattered even in light of the Clean Water Act and that the federal government did not have authority over them.
This of course isn’t stopping Barack Obama and Lisa Jackson from moving forward anyway.
It’s important to remember the original purpose of the Clean Water Act (1972). It gives the federal government and the EPA the authority to regulate “navigable waterways.” In other words, not a ditch out front with a lot of water in it and certainly not acres upon acres of private or state owned wetlands. Yet, regulating these types of waters is precisely what the EPA is in the midst of doing.
The Army Corps (pronounced core) of Engineers and the EPA are in the process of finalizing “Draft Guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act,” which is a fancy way of saying “we’re going to go out and change the definition of certain bodies of water so that we can pretend they fall within the Supreme Court’s definitions.”
The Barrasso-Heller Amendment, introduced by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), was created to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA from incorporating those Obama changes into the regulatory guidelines, which serves the purpose of distinguishing precisely what the Supreme Court had already covered when it established the clear limitations of the Act.
The rest here.
The EPA is turning into the HOA from Hell.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow. I was filling a part of my lawn in with dirt a couple of weeks back and thinking that I needed to make it a priority before the feds came in and declared it a federal wetland. I was laughing about it to myself but it is not without precedent.
My parents bought a parcel of land a few years ago that is next to their home. While it used to be farmland, the subdivision built a few blocks down about 15 years previous had poor land engineering and now, during huge rains, floods about a quarter of that parcel. That part that floods has since been declared "federally-protected wetlands". That means not only are the owners not allowed to touch anything in the "wetlands" area but a 50 foot buffer must also be maintained. This has basically made half the property useless and reduced the value by over 50%. It's not like this is some great nature preserve or park - it is a piece of dirt that needs to be filled in with more dirt.
I'm in the Midwest, which I wouldn't think would be a priority for wetlands preservation, but how are things in a place like Florida where it seems that the whole state is wet? With these types of regulations could Walt Disney World even be built today?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEnvironmentalists won't be happy until humans are confined to a few well defined protective zones and reduced in number to a manageable level, 10 to 15 million at the most.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse-- The Army Corps (pronounced core)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuselol. Funniest line of the day.
The EPA is a rogue bureaucratic agency honeycombed with eco-green socialists.
And as of December 2011, the perceived strength of the of eco-green socialists over awes the hoof-in-the-air RINO's.
The Republicans need to man-up: Strip the EPA of its regulatory power and re-define its role to that of an office (like the CBO).
And on January 2013, maybe I could be reading about the newly created Environmental Protection Office (EPO) is created to supplant the EPA and issue “reports and opinions” of the environmental effects of any proposed federal law.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have worked as an environmental consultant for 25 years. Much of my job involves trying to help people use their private property and keep businesses and industries operating. The Nazis had racial purity, islamofascists have Allah, and the US fascists have "the environment". Each day the federal register increases the power of the EPA and other bureaucracies. I was astounded at the recent proposed changes to the Freedom of Information Act. Actually they were not changing the law but proposing to eliminate its purpose through regulatory changes. If Obama/Holder had gotten their way, bureaucrats could capriciously put all government information out of reach.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSen. Barrasso continues to do good, solidly conservative heavy lifting. I'd like to see him in the mix for a future presidential run if he's interested. Rubio/Barrasso - what a combination!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOur State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality already regulates mud puddles, even seasonal ones. A medical device manufacturer in Sparta, MI was ordered to cease increasing its parking lot to accommodate new employees hired (a rarity here in the People's Republic of Michigan) by the DEQ because in the spring, part of its property between the existing lot and the railroad right-of-way behind it gets damp in the spring when the snow melts. By June it's all dried up, but the DEQ called is a "wetland" and regulated the parking lot expansion out of existence. "Wetlands" are something we have an overabundance of here in the People's Republic.....even the permanent kind, let alone the temporary ones.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat do you mean prepair. It's already happening. Saw it in Del.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePoorly graded front lawn flooded every spring. Took the owner years of legal hassels to fix.