From The Greeley Tribune:
A group of 30 Republican U.S. Senators on Thursday introduced legislation to stop the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing the proposed Waters of the U.S. rule, currently under public comment, according to reports.
The Senators’ “Protecting Water and Property Rights Act of 2014” aims to stop the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing the proposed Waters of the U.S. rule — a rule they say would ignore limits established by Congress regarding regulation of bodies of water in the United States if finalized.
The prosed rule, officially announced on March 25, dictates what waters fall under the definition of waters of the U.S., providing EPA and Corps jurisdiction to enforce regulations outlined in the Clean Water Act.
“The Obama EPA is trying every scheme they can think of to take control of all water in the United States,” said Protecting Water and Property Rights Act of 2014 author Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, said in a press statement. “This time, their unprecedented federal water grab is in the form of a rule that will hurt family farms, ranches, and small businesses by imposing outrageous permitting fees and compliance costs.”
Barrasso, as well as famers, suggest that if the rule goes forward, it will restrict local land and water use decisions, and could extend to intermittent streams and ditches, requiring additional permitting for farming and ranching activities.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
A Forest Service directive has the potential to add groundwater resources to proposed federal rules on surface water under the Clean Water Act, U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., said Thursday. During a congressional hearing, Tipton questioned Undersecretary of Agriculture Robert Bonnie on the proposed groundwater directive. The directive would expand forest service control to include groundwater, as well as streams that feed it, Tipton said.
Bonnie said Tipton is misinterpreting the rule.
“The Forest Service is putting out a directive that will clarify and provide some consistency across the way we address groundwater as part of resource management plans, projects and other things,” Bonnie said. “The purpose of that directive is to provide greater consistency across the Forest Service. It doesn’t provide any new authorities to regulate groundwater.”
Tipton disagreed.
“My interpretation of it is that a farmer or rancher could divert legally out of a stream to fill a stock pond or irrigate a field, and will be in violation,” Tipton replied.
Water users in Colorado already are nervous about increased scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers under proposed rules that regulate nearly every waterway as waters of the United States.
Those rules have been proposed to clarify federal authority after conflicting Supreme Court decisions.
For instance, on Thursday the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District spent time discussing potential impacts. Colorado Water Quality Control board member Mark Pifher testified to Congress last week that the rules would add regulatory expense to water projects. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, both Democrats, helped expand the comment period for the rules.
Meanwhile, Tipton has been critical of the Forest Service on other occasions, objecting to contract for ski areas that take water rights. The waters of the U.S. rule is another example of how the federal government is overreaching, he said.
“I don’t know what’s not going to be applicable to the ‘waters of the U.S.’ This is the biggest water grab in American history coming out of the EPA,” Tipton said.
More Environmental Protection Agency coverage here.