Contacts:

Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797

Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160                    

Inhofe Leads Effort to Oppose EPA and Army Corps' Guidance Document 

41 Senators send letter to EPA and Army Corps to halt clean water power grab  

Link to Letter

Washington, D.C.-Senator Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, along with 40 Republican colleagues sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Assistant Secretary of the Army Corps of Engineers Jo-Ellen Darcy asking the Agencies to abandon their draft guidance document, which sets the stage for a significant expansion of federal jurisdiction over the nation's waters.

"I am pleased to join 40 of my colleagues in opposition to EPA and Army Corps' recent guidance document, which seeks to greatly expand federal jurisdiction over our nation's waters," Senator Inhofe said. "Whether it's global warming or clean water, the Obama EPA is aggressively trying to achieve through regulation what could not be achieved through legislation, and this guidance document is a prime example.  The Agencies should immediately abandon it and work to implement an effective balance between state and federal authority-that balance is the best way to achieve substantial progress in protecting water."

Full Text of Letter:

June 30, 2011

The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson

Administrator

United States Environmental Protection Agency

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

 

The Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy

Office of the Assistant Secretary (Civil Works)

Department of the Army

108 Army Pentagon

Washington, DC 20310

 

Dear Administrator Jackson and Assistant Secretary Darcy:

On May 2, 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers (the Agencies) published in the Federal Register (76 Fed. Reg. 24479) a request for comments on draft guidance relating to the identification of waters protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

We have a great deal of concern about the actions that the Agencies are pursuing. The Agencies claim that this guidance document is simply meant to clarify how the Agencies understand the existing requirements of the CWA in light of the current law, regulations, and Supreme Court cases. More than clarifying, they greatly expand what could be considered jurisdictional waters through a slew of new and expanded definitions and through changes to applications of jurisdictional tests.  This guidance document improperly interprets the opinions of the plurality and Justice Kennedy's opinion in Rapanos v. United States by incorporating only their expansive language in an attempt to gain jurisdictional authority over new waters, while ignoring both justices' clear limitations on federal CWA authority. Attached are highlights of several specific issues regarding the draft guidance document.

The decision to change guidance, just a few short years after the Agencies issued official guidance on the exact same issue, has not been prompted by any intervening changes to the underlying statute through legislation or a new Supreme Court decision. Further, we understand that the Agencies intend this draft guidance to be the first step toward a formal rulemaking in the future. Because the Agencies' intent is to turn the draft interim guidance into regulations, it can only be interpreted to mean that they intend the guidance to be followed. Following the guidance will change the rights and responsibilities of individuals under the CWA - this is clearly the regulatory intent.

In the economic analysis completed by the Agencies, it was determined that as few as 2% or as many as 17% percent of non-jurisdictional determinations under current 2003 and 2008 guidance would be considered jurisdictional using the expanded tests under the draft guidance.  Any change in jurisdiction which results in a change to the rights and responsibilities of a land owner is, in fact, a change in the law as the program has been implemented to date.

Further, the draft guidance is intended to apply to more jurisdictional interpretations than just those covered by the Army Corps in making §404 determinations, but also those under §402 that governs National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits, §311, oil spills and SPCC plans, §303, water quality standards and TMDLs and §401 state water quality certifications. Because most states have delegated authority under many of these sections, this change in guidance will also result in a change in the responsibilities of states in executing their duties under the CWA. While we question seriously the need for this new guidance and believe that the Agencies lack the authority to rewrite their jurisdictional limitations in this manner, one thing is clear: it is fundamentally unfair to the States and the regulated community (including our nation's farmers and other property owners) to subject lands and waters under their control to a change in legal status of this magnitude via a "guidance document."  Changes in legal status should only be done, if at all, through the regulatory process, specifically under the Administrative Procedure Act, subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code.

Because the draft guidance will substantively change how the Agencies decide which waters are subject to federal jurisdiction and will impact the regulated community's rights and obligations under the CWA, this guidance has clear regulatory consequences and goes beyond being simply advisory guidelines. The draft guidance will shift the burden of proving jurisdictional status of waters from the Agencies to the regulated communities, thus making the guidance binding and fundamentally changing the legal rights and responsibilities that they have. When an agency acts to change the rights of an individual, we believe that the agency must go through the formal rulemaking process.

We respectfully request you abandon any further action on this guidance document.

Sincerely,

James Inhofe

Pat Roberts

Mitch McConnell

Lisa Murkowski

Lamar Alexander

Mike Crapo

Thad Cochran

Jeff Sessions

Mike Johanns

Richard Lugar

David Vitter

John Barrasso

Roger Wicker

Jon Kyl

Chuck Grassley

John Cornyn

Tom Coburn

Orrin Hatch

James Risch

Ron Johnson

Patrick Toomey

Jerry Moran

Rand Paul

Saxby Chambliss

Rob Portman

Dan Coats

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Jim DeMint

Johnny Isakson

Marco Rubio

John Thune

Bob Corker

Richard Shelby

Dean Heller

John Boozman

Mike Enzi

Roy Blunt

Lindsey Graham

John Hoeven

Richard Burr

Mike Lee

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