Graves on EPA Water Rule: Obama Administration will stop at nothing to achieve ideological, big government objectives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Sam Graves (MO-06), House Small Business Committee Chairman, today conducted a hearing about how small businesses would be affected by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and United States Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed rule to expand the Clean Water Act.

Blue Springs resident and former mayor Tom Woods, Owner of Woods Custom Homes, testified in Washington on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) regarding the EPA proposal and its effects on small businesses.

“This EPA ‘Waters of the United States’ proposed rule is a classic example of regulatory overreach,” said Chairman Graves. “This rule will impose significant additional costs and burdens on small businesses to comply with Clean Water Act requirements for thousands of small streams, ditches, ponds, and other isolated waters, some of which may have little or no connection to traditionally navigable waters that the Act was designed to protect. This is a power grab that cannot be justified.  It demonstrates the lengths to which the Obama Administration will bend its interpretation of the law and ignore the limits placed on it by Congress, the Supreme Court and the Constitution, to achieve its big government objectives.”

Last week, Graves and Members of the Committee wrote to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, who oversees the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to urge withdrawal of the pending rule.  On April 23, 2014, Graves alerted small business that the EPA’s new power grab was under consideration, and was recently in Platte City to assess EPA aggression on local property rights.

Tom Woods & Congressman Graves
(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Notable Quotes:

Tom Woods, Owner of Woods Custom Homes in Blue Springs, MO and testifying on behalf of National Association of Home Builders said, “This proposed rule will have a significant impact on small businesses nationwide, an important notion that the agencies choose to ignore.  I am at a loss as to why the agencies refuse to give small businesses a seat at the table to discuss these impacts.  I request that the agencies start over and develop a more meaningful and balanced rule that respects the spirit of the RFA.”

“As the former Mayor of Blue Springs, Missouri, I believe a key component of effective regulation is ensuring that local, state and federal agencies are cooperating, where possible, to streamline permitting requirements and are respecting the appropriate responsibilities of each level of government. Importantly, more sensible regulation will translate into job growth in the construction industry.”

Jack Field, Owner of Lazy JF Cattle Co. in Yakima, WA, and testifying on behalf of the National Cattleman's Beef Association said, “As a producer and the head of a state association, I can tell you that after reading the proposed rule it has the potential to impact every aspect of my operation and others like it by dictating land use activities in Washington state from 2,687 miles away.  I would also feel confident in saying that I believe it will actually have a detrimental impact on water quality.”

Materials from the hearing are available on the Committee’s website HERE.

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