Noem Votes to Send EPA, Army Corps Back to the Drawing Board on WOTUS
Washington, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today helped the U.S. House of Representatives pass the bipartisan H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, which would send the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers back to the drawing board on a proposed “waters of the United States” rule. The proposal of concern would expand the federal government’s control over small and seasonal bodies of water throughout South Dakota.
“It’s time that the EPA and Army Corps ditch this intrusive and unnecessary regulation,” said Rep. Noem. “The proposed rule, which could become one of the largest land grabs in U.S. history, was built on incomplete scientific data and a flawed economic analysis. The federal government ought to go back to the drawing board. After all, the potential federal takeover of many prairie potholes, ditches and streams isn’t an option.”
Throughout the last Congress, Rep. Noem helped lead the U.S. House of Representatives in passing bipartisan legislation to prohibit the EPA and the Army Corps from developing, finalizing, adopting, implementing, applying, administering or enforcing the proposed rule to or any similar rule that would expand the agencies’ jurisdiction over these waters. She also called on the EPA to define regulated navigable waters on a map after an alarming graphic was released that has raised questions about how extensive the EPA’s regulatory authority could become. Read more and view the graphic here.
In May 2014, Rep. Noem joined 231 Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle on a letter urging the EPA and the Secretary of the Army to withdraw the proposed rule. She also questioned the USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at an Agriculture Committee hearing in June 2014. Here, the Congresswoman raised concerns about the lack of clarity the interpretive rule would provide to producers and questioned why the administration is pursuing the rule when so many are opposed to it (watch the exchange here).
After earlier pressure from Noem and others, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did withdraw the “waters of the U.S.” interpretive rule, a portion of the controversial expansion. But action must still be taken by the EPA and Army Corps to fully eliminate the proposed rule.
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