EPA Water Police Coming to Your Farm, Business — and Back Yard
Predictably, the EPA’s expansive claim to regulatory power is being cheered by “environmental” NGOs that applaud every move to expand, concentrate, and centralize the power and reach of government. And just as predictably, the EPA proposal is generating vigorous opposition from property owners, farmers, ranchers, and industry, as well as state and local governments, who will be directly affected by any new EPA rulemaking on these matters.
The EPA’s new study, Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence, is generating controversy for its claims and methodology, as well as for the political nature of its release before being subjected to scientific peer review. Since passage of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972, the EPA has been torturing the law’s text to claim practically unlimited jurisdiction over all waters. However, the...
