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Tuesday afternoon update: Senate committee votes to expand Clean Water Act

Posted by: Maven on June 23, 2009 at 12:24 pm

From the California Farm Bureau Federation:

Despite strong opposition from agricultural groups and private property rights advocates, a bill that would expand the federal reach of the Clean Water Act, and that could have sweeping effects on everyday farming activities, passed out of a key U.S. Senate committee last week.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 12-7 to advance S. 787, also known as the Clean Water Restoration Act, which now faces consideration by the full Senate.

If adopted, the legislation would give the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers authority over nearly every wet area in the nation, including farm ponds, intermittent streams, ditches and, potentially, groundwater, said Elisa Noble, director of livestock, public lands and natural resources for the California Farm Bureau Federation.

The original Clean Water Act of 1972 gives the EPA and the Army Corps authority to protect rivers and streams that flow to navigable waters. But over the years, the two agencies broadened the interpretation of what they considered to be within the scope of their jurisdiction, going from rivers, lakes and streams to isolated wetlands and other features.

The legislation proposes to delete the word “navigable” from the current Clean Water Act and replace it with “waters of the United States,” among other changes. Opponents of the bill say this would allow the federal government to regulate virtually all interstate and intrastate waters, including activities affecting those waters.

Under the legislation, farmers and ranchers would be required to obtain federal permits to carry out their daily land management activities, such as installing culverts or implementing conservation projects, an area traditionally reserved for the states, Noble said.

“S. 787 is a monumental threat to the rights of state and local governments as well as private property owners,” she said. “It would allow for an extraordinary expansion of federal jurisdiction, giving the federal government the right to exert inordinate control over private property while opening the door for activists to sue landowners whose activities they don’t like.”

Read more from the California Farm Bureau Federation by clicking here.

June 23, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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