Planet Infowars
December 18, 2013
The rollout fiasco of ObamaCare and the ongoing uproar over its hidden traps and broken promises has obscured another domestic agenda item of the Obama administration that may prove nearly as pervasive and invasive as his nationalized healthcare initiative.
The clock is ticking on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s draft proposal to grab regulatory authority over virtually all surface water and groundwater throughout the United States. If not stopped by Congress, the agency could assert jurisdiction over even intermittent seasonal streams, isolated wetlands, ditches, trickles, puddles, and ponds. In September, the EPA issued a draft scientific study purporting to find that virtually all wetlands and streams are “physically, chemically, and biologically connected” to downstream waters over which the EPA already claims authority. Moreover, says the EPA study, even many “ephemeral streams” and “prairie potholes, vernal pools and playa lakes” that are dry most of the year can be found to have some connectivity to downstream waters.
At the same time that it released its science report, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers sent a draft regulation to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review. The White House is supposed to release the proposed regulation to the public by mid-December, but preoccupation with ObamaCare and other matters could delay that release.
Predictably, the EPA’s expansive claim to regulatory power is being cheered by “environmental” NGOs that applaud every move to expand, concentrate, and centralize the power and reach of government. And just as predictably, the EPA proposal is generating vigorous opposition from property owners, farmers, ranchers, and industry, as well as state and local governments, who will be directly affected by any new EPA rulemaking on these matters.
This post appeared in the Outdoors category.
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