Today the House of Representatives voted on Congressman Jason Smith’s language to bar the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using any funds to implement the damaging Waters of the United States rule. The language was included in H.R. 2028, the FY2016 Energy & Water Appropriations bill, which passed the House 240-177.
This overreaching rule could potentially allow the EPA to regulate nearly every area of the ground that gets wet or has flow during rainfall including ponds, puddles, temporary or small wetlands, irrigation ditches or similar collections of water, and would be especially detrimental to rural Americans.
“The farmers and ranchers in the Eighth District know how to protect our water resources better than an unelected bureaucrat in D.C.,” said Congressman Smith. “The EPA’s attempt to redefine navigable waterways to cover every drop of water would be devastating to farmers, ranchers, and property owners across this country. I will continue to fight this administration’s war on rural America.”
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