Boozman Urges Eliminating Controversial Waters of the U.S. Rule

Joins Colleagues in submitting comments to proposed rule

BY U.S SENATOR DR. JOHN BOOZMAN –

WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the EPW Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife, joined colleagues on the Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act to submit comments on EPA and Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) proposed rule regarding the definition of the act’s “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Members want to stop the rule from being finalized.

“EPA and the Corps must abandon the proposed Waters of the United States rule. It presents a grave threat to Americans’ property rights, and its finalization will force landowners throughout the country to live with the unending prospect that their homes, farms, or communities could be subject to ruinous Clean Water Act jurisdictional determinations and litigation,” wrote the Members.

In the letter, the Members emphasized that the proposed WOTUS rule presents serious federalism concerns since it would call for an extra-constitutional relationship between the federal government and the States in the regulation of local land-use matters.

The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal would give the administration much greater power to oversee the land use decisions of homeowners, small businesses and family farms throughout the country.  Surface water throughout the country is already protected, either by the federal government under the Clean Water Act, or by a patchwork of state and local measures that take into consideration local conditions, priorities, needs, and circumstances. The Obama Administration is trying to overrule state and local conservation efforts, with a one-size-fits-all approach from Washington, DC.

Boozman and several of his Senate colleagues called on EPA and the Corps to immediately withdraw the WOTUS proposal in a letter last month.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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