EPA, Corps, issue waters of US rule

Alaska’s congressional delegation unified in opposition; two measures, one already passed in the House, would overturn the rule

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army issued a final clean water rule May 27.

The agencies said it “more precisely defined and predictably determined” waters protected under the Clean Water Act, “making permitting less costly, easier, and faster for businesses and industry.”

Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation took a rather different view.

Rep. Don Young called it a massive expansion of federal jurisdiction; Sen. Lisa Murkowski called it an unprecedented expansion of federal authority; and Sen. Dan Sullivan said the expansion of authority would impact Alaska more than any other state.

EPA cited specific things the rule does:

•The agency said it clearly defines and protects tributaries impacting the health of downstream waters.

•Provides certainty in how far safeguards extend to nearby waters.

•Protects regional “water treasures,” specific features such as prairie potholes and Texas coastal prairie wetlands.

•Puts the focus on streams, not ditches.

•Maintains the status of waters within municipal separate storm sewer systems.

•And reduces case-specific analysis of waters by significantly limiting the use of case-specific analysis by creating clarity.

“There’s a saying - a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have,” Young said, calling the rulemaking “exactly one of those instances.”

He said the Clean Water Act already has a monumental impact on Alaska because the state has more than 3 million lakes, 12,000 rivers, thousands of streams, creeks and bonds.

“This rule significantly expands that scope and authority, one I believe is already too broad.”

Young said the House passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act, by a vote of 261 to 155, on May 12, legislation which he cosponsored, and which “overturns the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ rule to broaden its regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act and requires the development of a new rule with the consultation of state and local officials, stakeholders, and other parties, in addition to maintaining the federal-state partnership established under the 1972 Clean Water Act.”

Murkowski said the rule, WOTUS for “waters of the United States,” would greatly expand the area in Alaska requiring federal permits for development, creating one more roadblock to responsible construction and production.

“The EPA’s expansion of the definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ under the Clean Water Act appears to threaten economic activities across the country - and nowhere is the impact more likely than in Alaska,” Murkowski said. “With half of all the wetlands in the United States, Alaska is directly in the sights of the federal bureaucrats back in Washington, D.C., who will now be able to make decisions from more than 4,000 miles away about how we develop almost any part of our state.”

Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, has opposed the EPA’s WOTUS rule since it was proposed in March of 2014.

Sullivan said strong opposition to the scope of the rule had been heard in multiple hearings in Alaska and Washington, from “Americans from vastly different industries, ideologies and regions.”

“Despite this strong opposition, and dubious legal authority, the EPA has chosen to disregard Congress, and move ahead with a rule that could severely impact the nation.”

Sullivan said passage of S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which he co-sponsored, is now imperative. He said the bill “would not only help clarify jurisdiction and prevent unlawful federal overreach, but it would also help to ensure that the protection of Alaska’s precious resources remain in the hands of those who live near and rely on them.”