The Rewrite Of Clean Water Act To Expand Federal Control Is Wrong
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Repeatedly the federal government and one of the more self-expanding federal agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has tried to extend control and their power beyond the legislated authority of law. After the most recent Supreme Court ruling that they couldn’t get where they wanted to get in extending authority, using the Clean Water Act, the attention is now on Congress and the champion of a more comprehensive and encompassing federal government (Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation Committee) to seek changes in the Clean Water Act to give what the Supreme Court said they didn’t have…control over every drop of water .
This power grab, although par for the current course of those in control of our federal government, is not necessary and would seriously impact that authority that states have over their water. Although sound policy might not be the driving theme that wins the day, hopefully strong grassroots opposition to further expansion of centralized federal control. A host of opponents are lining up to attempt to convince members of Congress that this legislative rewrite is not needed and is overstepping the bounds of where the federal government needs to go.
While apparently the idea is that government action, imposing its regulatory will on all Americans, has the ability to provide for an improved environmental state of affairs – and those who believe this is the case are pushing hard for Big Brother to force their brand of compliance in all manners – we would contend that a more productive approach would be to empower those directly engaged in conservation efforts to work at accomplishing the objectives through better methods. As Lynne Finnerty suggested here , if Congress wants to do something worthwhile to benefit the environment, they need to pay attention to fixing laws that really require fixing.
Repeatedly the federal government and one of the more self-expanding federal agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has tried to extend control and their power beyond the legislated authority of law. After the most recent Supreme Court ruling that they couldn’t get where they wanted to get in extending authority, using the Clean Water Act, the attention is now on Congress and the champion of a more comprehensive and encompassing federal government (Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation Committee) to seek changes in the Clean Water Act to give what the Supreme Court said they didn’t have…control over every drop of water .
This power grab, although par for the current course of those in control of our federal government, is not necessary and would seriously impact that authority that states have over their water. Although sound policy might not be the driving theme that wins the day, hopefully strong grassroots opposition to further expansion of centralized federal control. A host of opponents are lining up to attempt to convince members of Congress that this legislative rewrite is not needed and is overstepping the bounds of where the federal government needs to go.
While apparently the idea is that government action, imposing its regulatory will on all Americans, has the ability to provide for an improved environmental state of affairs – and those who believe this is the case are pushing hard for Big Brother to force their brand of compliance in all manners – we would contend that a more productive approach would be to empower those directly engaged in conservation efforts to work at accomplishing the objectives through better methods. As Lynne Finnerty suggested here , if Congress wants to do something worthwhile to benefit the environment, they need to pay attention to fixing laws that really require fixing.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 4/26/2010 8:41 AM 
Categories: Water
Tags: Clean Water Act Rewrite Federal Control Congress
Categories: Water
Tags: Clean Water Act Rewrite Federal Control Congress
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