January 31, 2023 |
Governor Mark Gordon and two-dozen other Republican governors are pushing back against an effort by the Biden administration to extend federal control over waterways in the states. The governors in a joint letter called on President Joe Biden to delay implementing the Waters of The United States rule until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling the Sackett v EPA.
In their letter, the governors say the WOTUS rule is burdensome, overbroad and could not come as a worse time. “The rule is problematic in and of itself,” the letter reads, “but its timing is particularly troubling given record inflation and gas prices that threaten the livelihoods of so many communities. Another burdensome and overbroad regulation from the federal government could not come at a worse time for America.”
The governors note that the 514-page WOTUS rule would give the EPA the power to regulate private ponds, ditches and other small water features, just as the Obama-era WOTUS rule did. That rule was repealed under the Trump Administration.
Control over waterways has been the frontline of legal battles between the states and the federal government for a nearly a decade. During the past three administrations, the EPA and the U.S. Corps of Engineers have issued multiple rulings defining WOTUS. The Obama Administration published the Clean Water Rules in June of 2015.
Under the Trump administration, EPA and the Corps repealed the Clean Water Rule. EPA and the Corps then issued the Navigable Waters Protection Rule in 2020.
The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Sackett v EPA, a case that dates back to 2004. It involves private landowners, Michael and Chantell Sackett, who were notified by the EPA that they could not place fill on their residential property near Priest Lake, Idaho, because wetlands on the property fell under the Clean Water Act. At stake in the case is whether wetlands are “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.
In their letter, the governors’ note the Supreme court ruling in the Sackett case could significantly alter the EPA’s regulatory authority.
Pictured above: File photo of the Upper North Platte River. Photo by Bigfoot 99.
