ACTION NEEDED: Tell Your Senators to Halt EPA Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Overreach

The Senate began consideration of the Farm Bill and its amendments this week. Among those offered, Senator Barrasso (R-Wyo.) presented his AGC-backed legislation that halts forthcoming final guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) describing their new jurisdictional determinations. The final guidance document – which describes EPA and the Corps’ view of their authority to regulate all waters and wetlands — significantly changes and expands which water features are subject to federal jurisdiction and permit requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA). AGC is urging its members to contact their Senators and ask for their support for the Barrasso Amendment. EPA and the Corps issued draft guidance  in May 2011 on “Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act.” As this guidance document moved from proposal to final form, concerns, including those raised in AGC’s comments, were not addressed. The guidance document  was sent in final form to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Feb. 21, 2012. This increase in jurisdiction could increase construction costs and project delays with expensive permits that take years to obtain. There is already an extensive backlog of these Section 404 permits, and this will likely add to it. Bipartisan companion legislation was introduced in the House by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) and Ranking Democrat Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), along with Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Ranking Democrat Collin Peterson (D-Minn.). The strong bipartisan showing from these committees shows the concern both parties have about the far-reaching and catastrophic impact this guidance would have on some of the economy’s largest sectors. This bipartisan support lead to this legislation bypassing markup in subcommittee – it was  marked up in the full committee late last week. There the legislation garnered bipartisan support, winning approval 33-19. Visit AGC’s Legislative Action Center to tell your Members of Congress that EPA has gone too far. For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org or Leah Pilconis at (703) 837-5332 or pilconisl@agc.org.