Simpson's 'water war' is here

In October, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson warned that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy had “fired the first shot across the bow in what could potentially become a water war.” The war is here. The Idaho Republican was talking about a seemingly minute redefinition of the term “Waters of the United States” the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers had proposed earlier that year. The definition matters because it determines which waters are covered by the Clean Water Act, and which waters are either left to state regulators or left unregulated. The rule change has sparked a backlash from conservative lawmakers, while conservationists marshal behind what they see as a key protection for clean water. “I find it extremely disappointing, though not surprising, that the EPA has moved forward on this controversial rule in spite of widespread opposition from members of Congress, the states, and the American public,” Simpson said in a statement. “In Idaho, water is life, and I don’t intend to sit back and watch the EPA take control of state waters, leaving Idaho farmers, ranchers, and landowners at the mercy of federal regulations.” Some of the biggest controversy surrounds whether the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have the authority to regulate small streams that only flow for part of the year. The EPA says protecting those waters are key to ensuring people have clean water to drink. The EPA claims one in three Americans draws drinking water from a stream that would not be protected by the Clean Water Act if the proposed rule is blocked. But efforts to block the rule change are well underway. Even before the EPA had published its rule, the House passed a bill blocking its implementation. So far, that bill hasn’t made much progress in the Senate. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto any such bills. But Simpson — who is chairman of the committee that sets the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget and sits on the committee that oversees the EPA’s budget — has considerable power over whether the proposed rule moves forward. In the past, spokeswoman Nikki Wallace said, Simpson has inserted language into agency budgets to block such rule changes. “I anticipate that he will continue down that path as a result of EPA’s most recent ruling,” she said...more