New EPA Corps Report and proposed Jurisdiction Rule now in process
Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:11 am
Please reveiw and think of the impact this new rule would have in the further crippling of development in California and the U.S. in general. If you have time to write your Legislators, ask them to support Sen. Barrasso’s "Preserve The Waters Of The US Act (S 1006)." You could have an impact.
Frank
From:
Land Rights Network
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604
Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973
E-mail: alra@pacifier.com
Web Address: http://www.landrights.org
Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003
New EPA Wetlands Jurisdiction Rule, Nov 6 Deadline
The 2011 draft EPA Corps Jurisdiction Guidance is Withdrawn. New EPA Corps Report and proposed Jurisdiction Rule now in process.
It is vital that you comment on the new EPA Connectivity Report by
November 6th because your comments will be used as the basis for the
final writing of the new EPA Corps Wetlands Jurisdiction Rule.
Instructions to send comments are below.
Read Analysis by Pacific Legal Foundation & Stormwater Magazine
EPA and Corps of Engineers are preparing to release their new report
as justification to take jurisdiction over vast areas of the United
States trying to circumvent the “Navigable†requirement in the
Clean Water Act.
New Barrasso Bill (S1006) Introduced. Will Save “Navigableâ€
Language In Clean Water Act if passed.
Stop New EPA Corps Expanded Wetlands Jurisdiction Regulations.
Reminder: Harry Reid Omnibus Federal Lands Bill coming at you
(Again). Be sure to call your Senators at (202) 224-3121.
Action Items:
1. Read the Summary from Stormwater Magazine and that released by
the EPA. Deadline for comments: November 6,2013.
2. Read short analysis of EPA Corps Jurisdiction regulation
process written by Reed Hopper of the Pacific Legal Foundation.
3. Read the instructions to comment on the EPA Wetlands
Jurisdiction Report and Rule below. They call it: Public Comments for
the Science Advisory Board Review of EPA’s Water Body Connectivity
Report
4. Take funding away from the EPA and Corps. Call, fax and E-mail
both your Senators to support Sen. Barrasso’s Preserve The Waters Of
The US Act (S 1006). Be sure to oppose the EPA Corps attempt to bypass
Congress and issue new EPA Corps Wetlands Jurisdiction Regulations.
Call your Senator at (202-224-3121.
5 Stop EPA & Corps Of Engineers From Effectively Removing the
“Navigable†requirement From Clean Water Act for jurisdiction by
the EPA and Corps.
6. Please forward this message to others.
Discussion
The EPA and Army Corps are trying to push through new "Expanded
Clean Water Act Wetlands Jurisdiction Regulations" that would effectively
neutralize the Supreme Court decisions that said the EPA and Corps
cannot regulate all waters in the Nation or even all waters with a
hydrological connection to downstream “navigable waters.â€
The EPA and Army Corps are trying to gain jurisdiction over all waters
of the United States and all activities affecting all waters of the United
States. That must not be allowed to happen.
New EPA and Army Corp’s Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Regulations
appear to be modeled after their now withdrawn Guidance Regulations.
These new Jurisdiction Regulations would allow these agencies to
regulate waters now considered entirely under state jurisdiction.
Reed Hopper of Pacific Legal Foundation said, “If the new proposed
jurisdictional rule follows suit, it will be the largest power grab in
the history of the country. Although the new proposed jurisdictional
rule can and will be challenged, the courts are required to give great
deference to agency rulemaking.â€
Agriculture, commercial and residential real estate development,
electric transmission, transportation, energy development and
mining will all be affected and thousands of jobs will be lost.
Any action taken by you on your waterway could require a permit from
the Corps of Engineers.
These proposed new Jurisdiction Regulations will eventually apply to
agriculture, farmers and ranchers. So make your comments and oppose
the new rules now. The instructions are below.
From Stormwater Magazine – Janice Kasperson
EPA has just released a draft report titled “Connectivity of Streams
and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of
Scientific Evidence.†The report synthesizes recent scientific
literature and will be used by EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers
in an upcoming joint rulemaking session in December to clarify the
jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.
EPA is asking for public comments on the report; comments must be
received by November 6, 2013, to be considered by the joint rulemaking
panel.
(As EPA states in its introduction, “Recent decisions of the Supreme
Court have underscored the need for EPA and the public to better
understand the connectivity or isolation of streams and wetlands
relative to larger water bodies such as rivers, lakes, estuaries, and
oceans, and to use that understanding to underpin regulatory
actions.â€
The report is intended to clarify “connectivity,†or what affects what,
and as such could have a big impact on the construction and storm
water industries.
The report’s three broad conclusions, as summarized by EPA, are:
Streams, both permanent and ephemeral, and of all sizes are connected
and have effects on downstream waters.
Wetlands within stream floodplains are integrated with steams and
rivers and strongly influence downstream waters by affecting flow and
trapping pollutants.
Not enough information exists to generalize about wetlands and other
open waters outside riparian floodplains and their effects on downstream
waters.
At the same time they released the draft report, EPA and the Corps of
Engineers submitted a draft rule to the Office of Management and
Budget, based on the information in the report, for preliminary
review. EPA says public comments on the report will be taken into
account before the rule is finalized. ALRA believes the proposed rule
should be withdrawn until the comments are in.
You can find more information and a link to download the draft report
here
<http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisp ... dium=email>
Analysis of new EPA Corps Wetlands Jurisdiction process by Reed Hopper of the Pacific Legal Foundation.
1. The Corps and EPA have withdrawn their 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance from OMB review.
2. On Sep 11, the Corps and EPA submitted a new proposed jurisdictional rule to OMB in place of the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance.
3. The Corps and EPA have issued a preliminary report on connectivity that is open for comment until Nov 6.
It’s likely that the new proposed jurisdictional rule, which will go through
formal rulemaking (unlike the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance) will simply
echo the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance.
This would be dangerous because the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance
violated regulatory, statutory and constitutional law and would have
broadened the scope of the Clean Water Act to an unprecedented degree.
The 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance extended federal jurisdiction
to virtually all waters in the Nation.
Reed Hopper of Pacific Legal Foundation said, “If the new proposed
jurisdictional rule follows suit, it will be the largest power grab in
the history of the country. Although the new proposed jurisdictional
rule can and will be challenged, the courts are required to give great
deference to agency rulemaking.â€
The connectivity report was no doubt commissioned to provide support
for the agencies' overly broad interpretation of federal authority under
the Clean Water Act. There are a number of glaring problems with the report.
First, it concludes that all streams (no matter how small or intermittent)
are interconnected and have an effect on downstream navigable waters.
But the report does not show if those effects are significant or even
how to determine significant effects.
This is important because Justice Kennedy held in the Rapanos Supreme
Court decision that jurisdictional waters must have a significant effect on traditional navigable waters.
The court rejected the theory that a water is jurisdictional just
because it has a hydrological or other connection to downstream
navigable waters.
Secondly, the preliminary connectivity report uses the terms "stream,"
"wetlands," and "adjacent" differently than the Supreme Court and the
agencies currently use those terms. The report uses broader terms,
apparently to expand the reach of federal authority.
At times, it even includes groundwater, which the courts have
routinely excluded from federal jurisdiction.
Finally, the new jurisdictional rule is being proposed before the
connectivity report is even finalized. This suggests the EPA and
Corps will push forward with their expansive and unlawful interpretation
of their regulatory authority regardless of what the connectivity
report shows.
End of Pacific Legal Foundation analysis.
Frank
From:
Land Rights Network
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604
Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973
E-mail: alra@pacifier.com
Web Address: http://www.landrights.org
Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003
New EPA Wetlands Jurisdiction Rule, Nov 6 Deadline
The 2011 draft EPA Corps Jurisdiction Guidance is Withdrawn. New EPA Corps Report and proposed Jurisdiction Rule now in process.
It is vital that you comment on the new EPA Connectivity Report by
November 6th because your comments will be used as the basis for the
final writing of the new EPA Corps Wetlands Jurisdiction Rule.
Instructions to send comments are below.
Read Analysis by Pacific Legal Foundation & Stormwater Magazine
EPA and Corps of Engineers are preparing to release their new report
as justification to take jurisdiction over vast areas of the United
States trying to circumvent the “Navigable†requirement in the
Clean Water Act.
New Barrasso Bill (S1006) Introduced. Will Save “Navigableâ€
Language In Clean Water Act if passed.
Stop New EPA Corps Expanded Wetlands Jurisdiction Regulations.
Reminder: Harry Reid Omnibus Federal Lands Bill coming at you
(Again). Be sure to call your Senators at (202) 224-3121.
Action Items:
1. Read the Summary from Stormwater Magazine and that released by
the EPA. Deadline for comments: November 6,2013.
2. Read short analysis of EPA Corps Jurisdiction regulation
process written by Reed Hopper of the Pacific Legal Foundation.
3. Read the instructions to comment on the EPA Wetlands
Jurisdiction Report and Rule below. They call it: Public Comments for
the Science Advisory Board Review of EPA’s Water Body Connectivity
Report
4. Take funding away from the EPA and Corps. Call, fax and E-mail
both your Senators to support Sen. Barrasso’s Preserve The Waters Of
The US Act (S 1006). Be sure to oppose the EPA Corps attempt to bypass
Congress and issue new EPA Corps Wetlands Jurisdiction Regulations.
Call your Senator at (202-224-3121.
5 Stop EPA & Corps Of Engineers From Effectively Removing the
“Navigable†requirement From Clean Water Act for jurisdiction by
the EPA and Corps.
6. Please forward this message to others.
Discussion
The EPA and Army Corps are trying to push through new "Expanded
Clean Water Act Wetlands Jurisdiction Regulations" that would effectively
neutralize the Supreme Court decisions that said the EPA and Corps
cannot regulate all waters in the Nation or even all waters with a
hydrological connection to downstream “navigable waters.â€
The EPA and Army Corps are trying to gain jurisdiction over all waters
of the United States and all activities affecting all waters of the United
States. That must not be allowed to happen.
New EPA and Army Corp’s Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Regulations
appear to be modeled after their now withdrawn Guidance Regulations.
These new Jurisdiction Regulations would allow these agencies to
regulate waters now considered entirely under state jurisdiction.
Reed Hopper of Pacific Legal Foundation said, “If the new proposed
jurisdictional rule follows suit, it will be the largest power grab in
the history of the country. Although the new proposed jurisdictional
rule can and will be challenged, the courts are required to give great
deference to agency rulemaking.â€
Agriculture, commercial and residential real estate development,
electric transmission, transportation, energy development and
mining will all be affected and thousands of jobs will be lost.
Any action taken by you on your waterway could require a permit from
the Corps of Engineers.
These proposed new Jurisdiction Regulations will eventually apply to
agriculture, farmers and ranchers. So make your comments and oppose
the new rules now. The instructions are below.
From Stormwater Magazine – Janice Kasperson
EPA has just released a draft report titled “Connectivity of Streams
and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of
Scientific Evidence.†The report synthesizes recent scientific
literature and will be used by EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers
in an upcoming joint rulemaking session in December to clarify the
jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.
EPA is asking for public comments on the report; comments must be
received by November 6, 2013, to be considered by the joint rulemaking
panel.
(As EPA states in its introduction, “Recent decisions of the Supreme
Court have underscored the need for EPA and the public to better
understand the connectivity or isolation of streams and wetlands
relative to larger water bodies such as rivers, lakes, estuaries, and
oceans, and to use that understanding to underpin regulatory
actions.â€
The report is intended to clarify “connectivity,†or what affects what,
and as such could have a big impact on the construction and storm
water industries.
The report’s three broad conclusions, as summarized by EPA, are:
Streams, both permanent and ephemeral, and of all sizes are connected
and have effects on downstream waters.
Wetlands within stream floodplains are integrated with steams and
rivers and strongly influence downstream waters by affecting flow and
trapping pollutants.
Not enough information exists to generalize about wetlands and other
open waters outside riparian floodplains and their effects on downstream
waters.
At the same time they released the draft report, EPA and the Corps of
Engineers submitted a draft rule to the Office of Management and
Budget, based on the information in the report, for preliminary
review. EPA says public comments on the report will be taken into
account before the rule is finalized. ALRA believes the proposed rule
should be withdrawn until the comments are in.
You can find more information and a link to download the draft report
here
<http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisp ... dium=email>
Analysis of new EPA Corps Wetlands Jurisdiction process by Reed Hopper of the Pacific Legal Foundation.
1. The Corps and EPA have withdrawn their 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance from OMB review.
2. On Sep 11, the Corps and EPA submitted a new proposed jurisdictional rule to OMB in place of the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance.
3. The Corps and EPA have issued a preliminary report on connectivity that is open for comment until Nov 6.
It’s likely that the new proposed jurisdictional rule, which will go through
formal rulemaking (unlike the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance) will simply
echo the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance.
This would be dangerous because the 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance
violated regulatory, statutory and constitutional law and would have
broadened the scope of the Clean Water Act to an unprecedented degree.
The 2011 draft jurisdictional guidance extended federal jurisdiction
to virtually all waters in the Nation.
Reed Hopper of Pacific Legal Foundation said, “If the new proposed
jurisdictional rule follows suit, it will be the largest power grab in
the history of the country. Although the new proposed jurisdictional
rule can and will be challenged, the courts are required to give great
deference to agency rulemaking.â€
The connectivity report was no doubt commissioned to provide support
for the agencies' overly broad interpretation of federal authority under
the Clean Water Act. There are a number of glaring problems with the report.
First, it concludes that all streams (no matter how small or intermittent)
are interconnected and have an effect on downstream navigable waters.
But the report does not show if those effects are significant or even
how to determine significant effects.
This is important because Justice Kennedy held in the Rapanos Supreme
Court decision that jurisdictional waters must have a significant effect on traditional navigable waters.
The court rejected the theory that a water is jurisdictional just
because it has a hydrological or other connection to downstream
navigable waters.
Secondly, the preliminary connectivity report uses the terms "stream,"
"wetlands," and "adjacent" differently than the Supreme Court and the
agencies currently use those terms. The report uses broader terms,
apparently to expand the reach of federal authority.
At times, it even includes groundwater, which the courts have
routinely excluded from federal jurisdiction.
Finally, the new jurisdictional rule is being proposed before the
connectivity report is even finalized. This suggests the EPA and
Corps will push forward with their expansive and unlawful interpretation
of their regulatory authority regardless of what the connectivity
report shows.
End of Pacific Legal Foundation analysis.