Sept. 10, 2014 sees Congressional Record publish “WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES REGULATORY OVERREACH PROTECTION ACT OF 2014”

Volume 160, No. 129 covering the 2nd Session of the 113th Congress (2013 - 2014) was published by the Congressional Record.

The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.

“WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES REGULATORY OVERREACH PROTECTION ACT OF 2014” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1379-E1380 on Sept. 10, 2014.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES REGULATORY OVERREACH PROTECTION ACT OF 2014

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speech of

HON. BOB GOODLATTE

of virginia

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5078) to preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect to waters of the United States, and for other purposes:

Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act. In Virginia and the larger Chesapeake Bay watershed we have already seen the Environmental Protection Agency micromanaging state and local water decisions. The EPA's Waters of the U.S. rule expands the regulatory over-reach we have seen in the Bay watershed to the entire United States while imposing even more harmful regulations on even more small streams, creeks, manmade ponds, and nearby wetlands under the agency's control.

Congress intended the states and federal government to implement the Clean Water Act as a federal-state partnership where the states and federal government act as co-regulators. This rule is just another example of EPA forgetting the Clean Water Act's goal of cooperative federalism. The EPA cannot re-write the Clean Water Act and expand their jurisdiction at a whim. Only Congress can grant that authority. Today's vote is an important step to rein in the EPA and protect the farmers, landowners, and local economies that stand to be harmed by this rule.

I urge passage of this important legislation. Protecting America's waterways is critical, but what we need are commonsense policies that will protect water quality without limiting economic growth and unfairly over-regulating local agricultural producers and economies--

not more power grabs by the EPA.

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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 160, No. 129