On Wednesday, Congressman Paul Gosar, submitted an official appropriations language request to the House Appropriations Committee, that if enacted would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from using any appropriated funds for the “Waters of the United States (WOTUS)” rule.
According to Gosar, the funding rider request was made by him and 103 other members of Congress to Chairmen Calvert and Simpson and Ranking Members McCollum and Kaptur of the House Appropriations Committee.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1030, the Secret Science Reform Act of 2015 with a bipartisan vote of 241-175 on Wednesday. The EPA has been proposing, finalizing, and implementing far reaching and economically harmful regulations without releasing the science on which these regulations are based. Without transparency, independent scientists cannot review and verify the science nor can the affected public be certain that that the extra red tape and bureaucracy is actually necessary. Today’s bill prohibits the EPA from proposing or implementing regulations without first publishing the science on which they are based for independent review.
On January 28, 2015, Gosar introduced H.R. 594, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act. This bill prohibits the EPA and U.S. Corps of Engineering from “developing, finalizing, adopting, implementing, applying, administering, or enforcing” the proposed rule and any successor document, or any substantially similar proposed rule or guidance.
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.
According to a recent report by economist and University of California-Berkley faculty member Dr. David Sundling, the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Water Act rule is rife with errors and lacks transparency. Dr. Sundling concluded that the miscalculations in the EPA’s analysis are so extensive that it should be rendered useless for determining the true costs of this proposed rule. His report underscores the need for EPA to withdraw the rule and complete a comprehensive and transparent economic review that complies with federal law.
“Despite not having the science to back up their claims or the Constitutional right to take action, the EPA and the USACE are still planning to move forward with their blatant federal overreach, amounting to nothing more than a massive water-grab. In fact, this past Monday EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced they ‘are getting ready to send the final draft of the Waters of the U.S. rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for interagency review,” said Gosar in a statement released Wednesday.
“The proposed Waters of the U.S. rule would hand over federal jurisdiction of nearly all areas with any hydrologic connection to downstream waters including man-made constructions such as ditches, pipes and farmland ponds,” continued Gosar. “Contrary to claims made by the EPA and the USACE, this would directly contradict prior U.S. Supreme Court decisions, which imposed limits on the extent of federal CWA authority.”
“Congress must act now to stop the EPA from imposing devastating economic consequences for farmers, ranchers and small businesses throughout the country. Gosar concluded, “Passing H.R. 594 and/or including this funding rider are the only worthwhile efforts to date that will prevent these rogue agencies from implementing the extremely flawed WOTUS rule.”