New EPA rule defines ‘waters of the United States’
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has waded into the debate on a rule that expands the federal government’s jurisdiction over waterways in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency released its final rule Monday defining what bodies of water can be considered “waters of the United States.”
Koster has teamed with more than a dozen states that have sued the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the rule, saying it expands its reach too far.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has redefined waters of the United States to include essentially anything that you can think of that has now, or would ever, at any time, now or in the past, have or have had water in it,” said Leslie Holloway, the director of regulatory affairs at the Missouri Farm Bureau. “It’s that broad.”
Koster said under the rule the definition extends to lands within a 100-year floorplain — even if they are dry 99 out of 100 years.
With that definition, a newly formed pond in a farmer’s field brought on by the heavy rain could be under the EPA’s umbrella.
Holloway also said this could put landowners and farmers in the United States at risk and, because of Missouri’s unique terrain, this poses an additional problem for Missouri farmers in particular.
“You have so many different types of waters and such diverse terrain, you have a very large agricultural economy,” she said. “We just are not going to be able to try to have people complying with regulations that will affect their daily lives in such an onerous manner.”
Anyone who physically, biologically, or chemically alters water regulated by the EPA needs to have a permit. They are required to have a federal agent come out and inspect water before they do anything to it. If not, they face fines or jail time.
“If there is anything that would give the Environmental Protection Agency reason to believe that somehow there was an inadvertent discharge into what they would call a ‘water of the United States’ — that could look like a ditch running through a field, that could look like a gully – and yet it could be considered a water of the United States — then potentially that farmer could face some sort of punitive activity,” said Holloway.
The EPA said in a statement, “About 17 million Americans – one in three people – get drinking water from streams that lacked clear protection before the rule. The rule will ensure that these waters are more precisely defined and predictable determined, making permitting less costly, easier, and faster for business and industry, including agriculture.”
Holloway said those involved in the litigation against the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hope to stop the rule from going forward. She said there is also legislation in Congress to direct the EPA to start over on a new rule and a new definition of which waterways it can control.
