Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency is once again seeking to overstep its authority, and we are here to remind them of the balance of powers.

This year, EPA proposed a rule to redefine the waters of the United States under the Clean Water Act. This rule expands Federal control of land and water resources across the Nation. This rule would trigger an onslaught of additional permitting and regulatory requirements to protect not our great natural resources but, rather, our backyard ponds and agricultural ditches.

These requirements would extend to every landowner, farmer, and rancher. What this means for farmers and ranchers is that their normal business activities for the production of food would be subject to even more permitting requirements or faced with penalties. Traditional conservation guidelines which were once voluntary will become mandatory or the farmer will be subject to fines and vulnerable to lawsuits.

In this rulemaking, EPA assumes discretion never intended or granted by Congress through which Federal agencies would be empowered to make decisions, and those decisions could be made in an arbitrary fashion.

H.R. 5078 blocks the Agency from finalizing, implementing, and enforcing this rule. It preserves States' rights, ensures the Obama administration consults States and local officials on any future proposal to regulate and protect our Nation's waters under the Clean Water Act.

Protecting our natural resources is a noble cause and one that the agricultural community stands solidly behind, but this proposal is an underhanded way to harm American agriculture and threaten America's food security.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

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