The EPA and Corps have published new regulations expanding the term "Navigable” so it could cover a bird feeder in your back yard.
Tell Both Your Senators To Vote Yes On "Barrasso Heller
Amendment” to Defund EPA Corps Jurisdiction expansion.
Call both your Senators at (202) 224-3121.
The EPA and Corps have published new regulations
expanding the term "Navigable” so it could cover a bird feeder in your back
yard.
Don’t let the EPA and Corps get away with expanding their
own jurisdiction and undermining the limits Congress placed on them by limiting
their Jurisdiction to "Navigable Waters” in the Clean Water Act.
The EPA and Corps actually want to control all waters of
the United States and all activities affecting those waters.
You do not want the EPA and Corps in your back yard.
Senate Vote Coming Soon To Defund the new EPA and Corps
of Engineers Clean Water Act Regulations.
Please make your calls now! Keep calling through
Thanksgiving week and after until you hear that the Senate has voted. Call,
call again.
Keep calling. Call your friends.
The Senate will likely vote in the next two weeks on an
Appropriations Bill Amendment sponsored by Senators John Barrasso
(R-WY) and Dean Heller (R-NV) to the Energy and Water
Development Appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2012 that would Defund the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) attempt to expand its jurisdiction under
the Clean Water Act (CWA) through guidance documents and/or regulation.
-----This is a full Senate vote.
Action Items:
-----1. CALL BOTH YOUR SENATORS now to urge them to vote
YES on the BARRASSO/HELLER CWA (Clean Water Act Amendment) (EPA Corps Wetlands
jurisdiction). Call any Senator at (202) 224-3121. Ask for the staff person who
handles Clean Water Act issues. Tell them the vote will be scored by the League
of Private Property Voters.
-----2. Forward this message quickly as widely as
possible. This is very important.
-----3. Do not assume your friends and allies know about
this vote.
You must get everyone you know to call.
-----4. If one or both your Senators are Democrats it is
especially important that you call, fax and e-mail them. Get your neighbors,
friends and business associates to call.
Background:
In May of this year, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the Corps proposed a "guidance" document that attempts to
expand their jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to include almost all
waters across the country.
The guidance has not been finalized yet, but the agencies
are quickly moving forward to a rulemaking redefining the term "waters of
the United States." It is likely the agencies may send the proposed rule
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the next two weeks, which
is the last stop before a regulation is officially proposed or finalized.
The agencies intend to have a final rule by January 2012.
American Land Rights expects the proposed rule to contain
much of the language from the CWA guidance and would therefore expand the types
and number of waters subject to regulation under the CWA.
More waters falling under "waters of the U.S."
would expand the permitting universe under the entire CWA, including Sec. 402
NPDES permits, Sec. 404 Dredge and Fill permits (wetlands), and Sec. 311 Spill
Prevention, Control and Countermeasure plans.
The Amendment would do two things: (1) prohibit the Corps
from finalizing the guidance and (2) prohibit the Corps from promulgating a
rulemaking redefining "waters of the U.S."
*Below are talking points for your phone calls:*
* The guidance uses broad language to define things such
as "tributaries" that could lead to almost any roadside, agricultural
ditch or intermittent stream being subject to EPA and the Corps'
jurisdiction.
* The guidance defines "traditional navigable
waters" as any water that supports one-time recreational use (one trip in
a canoe down a stream would qualify a water as a "traditional navigable
water"). In the history of the Clean Water Act, the term "traditional
navigable water" has only been used to describe major rivers that can
float commercial vehicles like barges.
* Under this guidance, waters do not have to have a
surface connection to a larger body of water that actually moves goods in
interstate commerce to be subject to EPA/Corps' jurisdiction. The water body
does not even have to have actual water in it for much of the year to be jurisdictional.
* It allows the agencies to "aggregate" similar
types of waters (small streams, adjacent
wetlands, ditches or isolated waters) within a watershed. This means the
agencies only have to make a "jurisdictional determination" on one
water body to then get jurisdiction over numerous others without considering
them individually.
* The guidance goes beyond both the Supreme Court
decisions in SWANCC and Rapanos because it takes the court's narrow opinion on
wetlands and applies it to all types of waters.
* The amendment would prevent the Corps from finalizing
this guidance, and would also stop the Corps from initiating a rulemaking that
would more broadly define "waters of the United States."
Please support American Land Rights. ALRA is sending
hundreds of thousands of letters, faxes and e-mails to alert your allies about
the threat from the new Obama EPA Corps of Engineers regulations.
Please make whatever contribution you can afford. If you
send at least $35 you will be credited as a full member. If it is your first
year you can try us out for $25.
*Why you and American Land Rights (ALRA) should be on the
same team:*
* *
-----ALRA is your political insurance policy;
-----ALRA has a powerful record of accomplishment in
Congress;
-----Cooperating as a team with ALRA, your voice is
loudly heard in Washington, DC;
-----ALRA is known for its aggressive protection of
members’
rights;
-----You have access to our Washington, DC office;
-----You have a full time Headquarters in Battle Ground,
Washington loaded with tools to help you;
-----Hundreds of thousands of allies in ALRA e-mail, fax
and mail lists to help you win on your issue;
-----ALRA offers crisis management services to members
and allies;
-----Grassroots organizing and coalition building to help
you save your property or interest are areas where ALRA excels.
-----ALRA has helped organize grassroots groups in every
state; These groups are independent and do not operate under the ALRA umbrella.
ALRA is simply an ally with a set of specialized tools to
help local and national groups achieve their objectives.
-----Day-to-day consulting on land use and environmental
issues is available. ALRA and Chuck Cushman can help you get started, obtain
the tools you need and show you how to use them when you are threatened in your
local area by government expansion or actions by extreme environmental groups.
-----ALRA provides teaching tools for grassroots
activists to help you compete in the political process.
If you are already an ALRA member, we thank you and
appreciate your support.
If you are not a member you can join ALRA for the first
year at the reduced membership rate of $25. The regular rate is $35.
Just go to www.landrights.org<http://www.landrights.org/> to join or simply mail a check for $25 if you
are a new member to American Land Rights, PO Box 400, Battle Ground, WA 98604.
If you are a returning member, the rate is $35.
Be sure to specify what issues you are concerned about to
make sure you receive the appropriate e-mails.
Getting started is easy. Just call American Land Rights
or send an e-mail to alra@pacifier.com<mailto:alra@pacifier.com> or ccushman@pacifier.com<mailto:ccushman@pacifier.com> with your contact information (phone, fax and
e-mail) and a little about your issue. Your postal address would be helpful
too.
-----Please
forward this message as widely as possible. The more people who get this
document the better chance you have to compete with the greens.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Chuck Cushman
Executive Director
American Land Rights Association