“My legislation is the necessary next step in pushing back against this blatant power grab by the EPA”, bill sponsor Sen.
Advertisement
“Protecting our nation’s waters is a priority for manufacturers, but we need a balanced regulatory approach that yields a regulation consistent with law and policy”, National Association of Manufacturers Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Ross Eisenberg said.
Susan Collins and Angus King vote against the measure. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voting with all Republicans present except Sen.
“And a failure to comply with the rule could result in fines as high as $37,500 per day”. “They are just wasting valuable Senate time on these show votes”.
The White House has promised to veto any bill undoing the EPA’s new rules, which set guidelines for bodies of water found in proximity to waterways.
Thirty-one states and multiple industry groups have filed suit against the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Republicans argued that the court’s stay reinforces their position against the rule.
The Senate and the House, the latter under the new leadership of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will battle it out with a White House seeking a legacy of broad, liberal advances on everything from clean air and water to how financial advisers bill their customers.
“The true aim of this massive regulatory overreach is pretty clear”, he continued.
Finalized in May, the Clean Water Rule seeks to clarify the waters that can be regulated by the EPA under the Clean Water Act.
“Now a bipartisan majority of the Senate has voiced its approval as well”, Grassley said of the 57 votes in favor of the bill to mandate collaboration with states and others affected by the rule. But when you dive into the rule’s lengthy publication, you’ll find that EPA is proposing to expand its jurisdiction over roughly 60-percent of all ‘waters of the United States, ‘ and can also capture certain irrigation ditches, stock ponds, and even dry desert washes. Of the three Democratic co-sponsors, both McCaskill and Donnelly come from states where Democrats are trying to pick-up current Republican seats in the Senate.
“The agency should be focused on those waters where there are a significant nexus and an opportunity for a significant effect from upstream waters to downstream waters”, said Ken Kopocis with the Environmental Protection Agency. James Inhofe (R-OK), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, asked the corps to confirm its limited role vis-a-vis the EPA (see Shale Daily, July 27).
Advertisement
“The pretense is that a few evil bureaucratic force at the EPA has leapt out to take over Americans’ farms and ranches”. “Because this bill doesn’t protect anything. It allows for pollution of many bodies of water that provide drinking water to 117 million Americans”. Montanans know that this power grab has more to do with controlling Montanans’ land use decisions than ensuring access to clean water like the Clean Water Act intended.
