Senator Chuck Grassley made the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers released a final rule on the Waters of the United States. Grassley has been an outspoken critic of the EPA’s rulemaking in this area. He has pressed for the agency to restart the rulemaking, and has voiced concern about the impact the rule will have on agricultural interests. Grassley is a cosponsor of a bipartisan bill in the Senate to require that the Waters of the United States rule be completely revised with stakeholder input. Grassley also is a cosponsor of legislation that would clearly define the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction in the law rather than leaving it to the EPA.
“The EPA had a chance to bring all stakeholders to the table and craft a final rule that involved all interested parties. Instead, it looks like the agency tweaked a bad proposal making it slightly better, but this rule needed a complete overhaul.
“The indifferent attitude that the EPA took toward agriculture is a real concern for Iowans who know the impact agriculture has on the state’s economy. And, at first glance, the rule still appears to be a problem for agriculture. The rule could result in significant red tape and expense for Iowa farmers as they make routine decisions about how best to use their land, even ironically hampering projects to improve water quality.
“The problem remains that Congress too broadly defined the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act when it wrote the law. So, Congress has a role to play in clarifying the congressional intent in either the appropriations process or stand-alone legislation.”
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