The Protecting Water and Property Rights Act of 2014, introduced in the Senate, aims to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) from finalizing their March 2014 proposed rule, which farm groups say would unnecessarily expand federal authority under the Clean Water Act, according to Southwest Farm Press.
The EPA’s proposed rule redefines “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. Senators argued that “the EPA wants to regulate not just ‘navigable’ waters, but every water.”
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) stated the rule “will illegally expand EPA jurisdiction to millions of acres of once-unregulated farm land, exposing farmers to fines and penalties for ordinary farming activities.”
The EPA rule, if finalized, would represent a massive land grab by the federal government, since few water bodies would escape the EPA’s broad definition of “waters of the United States.”
EPA is accepting formal comments on the proposed rule through Oct. 20, 2014 at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880-0001