Guest writer

Bad for Arkansas

EPA water rule an overreach

Last month, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy made her first visit to Arkansas to tout a water-filtration project in downtown Little Rock funded by EPA grants. While this project may have its benefits, Administrator McCarthy should have instead taken time to listen to Arkansans on an issue of much greater concern and wider impact: the EPA's Waters of the United States rule.

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule to redefine "navigable waters" of the U.S., which expanded the Obama administration's authority to regulate decisions of homeowners, small businesses, and family farms in Arkansas and across the country. This rule creates unprecedented new liability that will allow the EPA to dictate everything from when Arkansas farmers can plant their crops to how often they can run a tractor. They could even regulate mud puddles on family farms.

If Administrator McCarthy had visited a large rice farm in Poinsett County or a family farm in Polk County, she would have heard firsthand from Arkansas farmers and landowners that President Barack Obama's EPA is completely out of touch with rural America. Arkansans would have explained that the Waters of the United States rule will make it harder for them to do business and will hurt our state's economy.

But farmers aren't the only ones at risk. The EPA's new rule is so broad that it applies to any landowner in Arkansas who has even a small drainage ditch on their property. Those landowners could face federal criminal charges for disturbing that ditch in any way--including building a fence or small storage shed. It may sound unbelievable, but, unfortunately, it's reality.

Ironically, despite their desire to regulate nearly every drop of water in the United States, the EPA dumped more than three million gallons of toxic wastewater into the Animas River in Colorado just three months ago. Worse, the EPA refused to take responsibility for its actions and still won't answer whether it intends to pay monetary damages for its negligence.

Proponents of the new rule argue that we should trust the EPA to implement this rule with discretion and good judgment. But President Obama's EPA has a terrible track record of respecting our laws, and Arkansans are rightly skeptical that bureaucrats in Washington will look out for our interests. Over the last six years, the EPA has finalized more than 150 new regulations that cost over 3 billion dollars and over 2,000 new rules. And most of these rules and regulations--like the Clean Power Plan designed to kill coal jobs--would have a devastating impact on Arkansas.

Put simply, the EPA is out of control. For instance, they solicited input on this regulation for months before promptly ignoring feedback from those impacted and unveiling the most aggressive version of the rule possible. The only way forward is to overturn this rule completely.

Over 30 states--including Arkansas--have already filed suit against this rule and two courts have ruled that it's likely illegal and blocked implementation. But we can't wait for this case to make its way through the judicial system.

That's why this week the Senate took action to protect Arkansans from this blatant case of EPA overreach by passing a resolution of disapproval nullifying the EPA's new Waters of the United States rule. I hope my colleagues in the House will follow suit and send this resolution to President Obama to sign.

Arkansans have been taking care of their land for generations. We are responsible stewards of the environment and don't need President Obama's EPA to tell us what to do and not do with mud puddles on our property. The new Waters of the United States rule is bad for rural America and it must be stopped.

If Administrator McCarthy had spent some time really getting to know Arkansas during her visit, she would have learned that firsthand.

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Tom Cotton is the junior U.S. senator for the state of Arkansas.

Editorial on 11/07/2015

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