From the AFBF: Next on the Government’s Agenda: Regulating Rainwater
April 12th, 2010 by wateradminBy Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation
Some folks laugh at the notion of Uncle Sam reaching his hand literally into our backyards and regulating almost every drop of water. But, a bill in Congress would do just that. And if it passes, not just farmers and ranchers would be affected, but all land owners.
The Clean Water Restoration Act, or S. 787, gives the government the right to extend its reach to any body of water from farm ponds, to storm water retention basins, to roadside ditches, to desert washes, even to streets and gutters. The legislation leaves no water unregulated and could even impact standing rainwater in a dry area. Private property owners beware.
Put simply, this legislation would delete the term “navigable waters,” a key in determining whether regulations apply to water, from the Clean Water Act. Under this new law, areas that contain water only during a rain would be subject to full federal regulation. Further, not only would many areas not previously regulated require federal permits, those permits would be subject to challenge in federal court, delaying or halting these activities resulting in a huge impact on rural economies.
While it has “restoration” in its title, it does anything but. The Clean Water Restoration Act is not a restoration of the Clean Water Act at all. It is a means for activists to remove any bounds from the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction to extend the government’s regulatory reach. But, what the activists won’t tell you is that the Clean Water Act is working, and has been for the last 36 years.
The Clean Water Restoration Act is regulatory overkill. It is written to give the federal government control of structures such as drainage ditches, which are only wet after rainfall. Taking these changes one step further, it would likely give federal regulators the ability to control everyday farming activities in adjacent fields.
Hard-working farm families can’t afford, nor do they deserve, Uncle Sam’s hand reaching into their backyards, their fields or even their puddles of rainwater.
