The over regulators are destroying this country, Inhofe said. This is not just agriculture. Manufacturers and energy producers are all having the same (regulatory) problems.
Inhofe praised farmers for standing up to the federal regulators.
Farm Bureau is our best ally in these types of issues, he said.
The CWA gives the EPA authority to write rules governing the protection of navigable waters. The EPA wants to redefine the word navigable in an effort to regulate even a roadside ditch that could hold water for only a few hours.
The EPA wants to make this proposal to the guidance document. A guidance document is a non-legally binding interpretation written by an agency to explain how it interprets existing regulations, court decisions and federal statutes. However, a guidance document may not exceed or conflict with the original law as passed by Congress and existing regulations promulgated under the Administrative Procedures Act.
This proposal would allow the EPA to regulate the following:
groundwater
ditches culverts pipes
desert washes farm and stock ponds.
Farm Bureau warns about EPA takeover of waterways | Tulsa Beacon