The GOP letter was sent to EPA chief Scott Pruitt on the last day to submit public comment on the Trump administration’s proposal to scale back the rule, which President Trump ordered under one of his first executive orders as commander in chief. “The courts have been clear that a federal agency may not exceed […]
“Within the last year, I have had the honor of working with the Trump administration to repeal more than $36 billion dollars’ worth of Obama-era regulations,” said Smith. “One of our biggest successes was rescinding the Waters of the United States regulation, which sought to federally regulate every drop of water on Missouri farmers’ land.” […]
The clean water act established the basic rules for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States and gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs, such as setting wastewater standards for industry. However, WOTUS significantly expanded the definition of navigable waters, to include everything from ditches, streams, wetlands and puddles. In […]
Earlier this year, the House passed the first four appropriations bills to support our military construction projects, veterans, energy and water sectors and our active-duty service members. Included in this package of bills was full funding at the president’s request for veterans at $73.8 billion, the prohibited closure of Guantanamo Bay, a 2.4-percent pay increase […]
Pruitt sounded the most confident when he talked about his WOTUS repeal effort. “What was wrong with the WOTUS rule of 2015 was it was what? An overreach. That’s not editorial comment. That’s what the 6th Circuit said,” Pruitt said. The court halted the definition of “waters of the U.S.” based on EPA’s broad interpretation […]
One of Pruitt’s first targets is a controversial rule on water pollution put in place by the Obama administration that he deemed a “power grab” by environmental regulators. To better understand why property rights advocates applauded the move, consider the case of fourth-generation farmer John Duarte, who has fought a protracted and costly legal battle […]
EPA plans to ask representatives from major industrial sectors about key issues that will inform the agency’s upcoming Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule that is expected to significantly narrow the Obama-era CWA policy, including compliance costs and whether there is a lack of regulatory “clarity” on the law’s reach. The agency outlined its questions […]
A 78-year-old man imprisoned for digging two ponds in Montana, one on federal land and the other on private property, without a permit has appealed his sentence, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). Oral arguments for Joseph Robertson’s appeal began Tuesday in the Ninth Circuit court. Robertson is serving an 18 month sentence in […]
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has released a video featuring Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt urging farmers and ranchers to submit official comments on the repeal and replacement of the waters of the U.S. rule. The agency’s deadline for comments has been extended to Sept. 27. On the video, Pruitt said his agency is […]
“EPA is committed to an open and transparent process for reviewing the definition of ‘waters of the United States,’” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The rule, sometimes called the “puddle” rule, expanded the definition of waterways to include small streams and even ditches, greatly increasing EPA’s jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to cover private land […]