|
|
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 30,867
Master Elite Member
|
Defend Property Rights Against EPA 'Navigable
Waters' Overreach
The notorious Clean Water Act of 1972
has been used by both the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to curtail
mining, control land use in agricultural zones, stop expansion of energy
companies, and bring an end to construction projects. As The New
American Senior Editor William F. Jasper stated, “The ‘navigable waters’ authority is one of the
many dangerous avenues that have allowed the agency to engage in enormous
unconstitutional assaults on the rights of property owners. Farmers,
ranchers, homeowners, business owners, and municipalities have been forced
to abide by costly, and sometimes impossible-to-achieve, EPA mandates that
have little or nothing to do with protecting the environment and even less
to do with exercising legitimate federal authority.”
 Legislation introduced by Senator Rand Paul
(R-Ky.) would target these abuses by the EPA and the Army Corps of
Engineers. The Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012, S. 2122, with seven cosponsors so far, would rein in the
EPA's regulatory overreach over "navigable waters" on
private property that has destroyed the American dream of home
building for many Americans. A companion bill will soon be introduced in
the House.
"Environmental protection must be balanced with the
fundamental American right to private property,” Sen. Paul has said, adding, "It is time to bring common
sense to federal water policy, and I do so on behalf of the thousands of
property owners across the country who have been met with aggression from
the EPA and Army Corps for wetlands issues."
From Sen. Paul’s
website are these provisions in The Defense of Environment and
Property Act of 2012:
- Redefine "navigable waters" to explicitly clarify that waters must
actually be navigable in fact, or "permanent, standing, or continuously
flowing bodies of water that form geographical features commonly known
as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes that are connected to waters that
are navigable-in-fact."
- Excludes ephemeral or intermittent streams -- the streams that
sometimes form when rain falls -- from federal jurisdiction.
- Restrains the EPA and the Army Corps from regulating or
"interpreting" the definition of a navigable water without Congressional
authorization.
- Protects the rights of states to have primary authority over the
land and water within their borders.
- Prohibits federal agents from entering private property
without the express consent of the landowner. [Emphasis added.]
- Requires the government to pay double the value of the land to any
landowner whose property value is diminished by a wetlands designation.
Passage of this bill would result in less regulatory
heavy-handedness by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers in their dealings
with property owners and businesses by ending their authority over truly
non-navigable waters. However, this bill is stuck in the Senate Committee
for Environment and Public Works, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
who has a pattern of opposing any attempts to rein in the EPA’s
out-of-control powers. Here is a list of the Senate Majority
and Minority leaders of the Committee that you can call
immediately and ask for their support to get this bill reported
out of committee and passed by the Senate:
Senate Majority Members
Senate Minority Members
When graded from a constitutional perspective, this is
an A+ bill. It should help tremendously to rein in the EPA's and the Corps
of Engineers' aggressive regulatory tactics that harm American businesses
and families.
Urge your Representative and Senators to cosponsor,
support, promote and pass this important bill today using our
prewritten, editable email message.
Thanks.
Your friends at
The John Birch Society |
|
|
|
|
|
