Politics

Inhofe Vows To Derail EPA’s Water Takeover

REUTERS

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Michael Bastasch DCNF Managing Editor
Font Size:

The EPA unveiled a major regulation last week that would greatly expand the agency’s control over bodies of water in the U.S., but not if Sen. Jim Inhofe has anything to say about it.

Inhofe has vowed to push legislation to the Senate floor that would prevent the EPA from expanding federal control over U.S. waters, especially waters located on privately-held lands.

“The huge expansion in federal authority under the final rule means that it is more important than ever for Congress to act,” the Oklahoma Republican wrote in a Fox News op-ed. Last month, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, to rein in EPA’s attempt to use the Clean Water Act to expand federal control while protecting those waters that need to be protected to keep pollution from reaching traditional navigable waters.”

“I intend to move S. 1140 through the EPW Committee as soon as possible this summer,” write Inhofe, who heads up the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “I will not allow EPA to advance its agenda on controlling private lands, and will work with my colleagues for a veto proof majority in support of this legislation.”

The EPA released a final rule last week that expands the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to include waters not previously under federal control. Such waters include potholes, streams, some wetlands, ditches and even big puddles. Republicans have argued the rule allows the EPA to essentially regulate water in people’s backyards.

EPA officials, however, have argued the WOTUS rule is needed to clear up uncertainty created in the wake of two previous Supreme Court rulings. The agency also said the WOTUS rule “does not create any new permitting requirements, maintains all previous exemptions and exclusions.”

But the EPA’s own regulatory impact analysis of the rule shows an “estimated increase of between 2.84 and 4.65 percent in positive jurisdictional determinations (JDs) annually.” This represents the increased amount of waters that will fall under EPA’s permitting process every year.

Yet, the EPA maintains the WOTUS rule actually “narrows” the scope of waters it can regulate. Officials have stressed that the rule will also create no new burdens for farmers — who were some of the rule’s biggest opponents.

“Normal farming and ranching — including planting, harvesting, and moving livestock — have long been exempt from Clean Water Act regulation, and the Clean Water Rule doesn’t change that,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy wrote in a blog post.

“What the rule does is simple: it protects clean water, and it provides clarity on which waters are covered by the Clean Water Act so they can be protected from pollution and destruction,” McCarthy wrote.

But Inhofe disagrees with the agency’s characterization of the WOTUS rule. Inhofe says the rule “hugely expands the ability of this aggressive agency to disregard the conservation efforts of American states and interfere with the daily lives and property of the American people.”

“Not only does this final rule break promises EPA has made, but it claims federal powers even beyond what EPA originally proposed a year ago,” Inhofe wrote in his op-ed. “This will drastically affect—for the worse — the ability of many Americans to use and enjoy their property.”

Inhofe plans on moving quickly to get legislation opposing the WOTUS rule to the Senate floor. But even if the bill is passed out of the House and Senate, it’s likely to be vetoed by President Obama.

Follow Michael on Twitter and Facebook

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contactlicensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel