In an effort to examine the latest overreaching proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would broaden the scope of waters subject to federal scrutiny under the Clean Water Act, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) and the House Small Business Committee held a hearing to discuss the ‘Waters of the United States.’  

The proposed rule would expand the scope of the Clean Water Act on small businesses and farmers by effectively taking out the word “navigable” from “navigable waters” and thereby extending the Act to any body of water connected to a traditionally navigable stream at any point in time. In other words, a pond, a ditch, a seasonally wet stream, even a puddle of water, would now fall within their jurisdiction.

“As Vice Chair of the House Small Business Committee and as co-chair of the Mississippi River Valley and Tributaries Caucus, I believe it was necessary to have an open discussion with stakeholders about compliance concerns before the rule moves forward,” Luetkemeyer said. “This rule will not only hurt small businesses but also our nation’s farmers. If finalized, this rule will stall development, cost jobs, and put decision-making under the heavy hand of federal regulation. With the stroke of a pen, bureaucrats in Washington can do immense damage to our economy and, unfortunately, this appears to be just another example of this overreaching administration putting the federal regulatory train into overdrive while disregarding the impact their actions have on the lives of hard-working Americans.”

The House Small Business Committee brought in several witnesses to testify and express their concerns with the EPA’s proposed rule. One witness in particular, Jack Field, the Owner of the Lazy JF Cattle in Yakima, Washington showed his frustration with this proposed rule when he summed up the situation by stating, “Once that drop of water falls from the sky, it’s under EPA’s jurisdiction.”

Last week, Luetkemeyer signed a letter to the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers urging them to withdraw and rework the proposed rule to revise “Waters of the United States.” The letter’s focus is the proposed rule’s potential effects on small businesses and the agencies failure to comply with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) to conduct outreach and to assess the impacts of the proposed rule on small businesses. The letter requests the agencies withdraw the rule that is required by the RFA. If the agencies fail to do that, it asks the comment period be extended by 90 days to allow adequate time for small businesses to provide input on the rule.