Policy was among the most egregious cases of federal overreach we have seen
Since the various chairmen of the Senate and Congressional Western Caucuses, a group of associates that work to raise the voice of this rural West in Congress, we’ve got a vested interest in the way the federal government’s regulations affect agriculture, water and natural resources throughout the nation — particularly when these regulations burden that the rural communities we represent.
This is not only partisan rhetoric — that the courts ruled the 2015 definition was grand than the statute as well as the Constitution allow.
WOTUS supplied none of the certainty and clarity it guaranteed. Rather, it created confusion and place landowners in danger by providing national agencies practically unlimited authority to control — in their own discretion — some other low place where rainwater collects. This comprised common farm ditches, streams, small ponds, creeks and isolated wetlands located on and near farms and ranches throughout the country — regardless of how small or apparently unconnected they could be to authentic”navigable waters”
Federal bureaucrats would possess the capability to choose whether a farmer could ditch her or his particular area, and their management of state property acreage might have improved by up to 400%.
By way of instance, 97 percent of the property in Iowa will be governed by the national government under the Obama-Biden WOTUS principle, an unfathomable intrusion by D.C. bureaucrats to the lifestyles and livelihoods of rural Iowans.
WOTUS not just represented among the most egregious cases of national overreach we have seen at our time functioning in Washington, D.C., but it was an abysmal failure. The principle has been challenged in court by heaps of civil, civil, stakeholder and environmental associations, and 33 Democrat and Republican governors and state ecological heads known for a revised guideline.
The Western Caucus led the charge against this misguided law, and we were grateful when the Trump government countered the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) to give certainty and predictability to households, manufacturers and small business owners across the USA once and for all.
Clean water and financial prosperity aren’t mutually exclusive. Westerners want equally, and that is made possible by enabling communities and strengthening locally led conservation efforts — since the very best stewards of our oceans and lands are the ones which live nearest, not out-of-state authorities.
Sad to say, the Biden government has signaled intent to reverse and rewrite the NWPR once more. That can be alarming, misguided and shouldn’t proceed. Let’s be clear, the doubt which includes a revolving-door regulatory strategy does not have any advantages — either ecological or otherwise.
Clean and dependable water is essential to our own Western communities, and we’re thankful for Sen. Ernst and Rep. Miller-Meeks’ direction on this high-priority matter.
Their livelihoods depend upon a wholesome environment and clean water, and they deserve leadership which ensures that it is provided securely, efficiently and fairly for many Americans.
The Western Caucus recommends the Biden government to hold true for their commitment to follow along with the best available science and also listen to rural voices prior to participating in additional politically motivated attempts to roll-back the NWPR.
