House Votes to Protect Private Property Rights, Halting EPA and Army Corps’ Land Grab
“Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5078 Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014 in an attempt to halt the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed “Waters of the United States” rule. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council applaud the efforts of Rep. Southerland (R-Fla.) to block what is described as the largest federal land grab to date.
“As a small business owner and [part of] a family that is also in the timber business, I understand regulatory creep and what we have seen through the EPA and the Corps of Engineers is the very definition of regulatory creep,” said Rep. Southerland. “The old rule was adjacent wetlands to navigable waters. Now it’s all waters adjacent to wetlands, adjacent to navigable waters. This really facilitates a capture of private property using the Clean Water Act and this onerous authority as a tool for imminent domain.””
News Release. AGWeb.com 11 September 2014.