Elko Daily Free Press 4-23-10

Western Caucus blasts water bill

ELKO — A proposed bill that would expand the authority of the Clean Water Act is drawing fire from Western lawmakers.

“Expanding the reach of the Clean Water Act has been a priority of environmental activist for years,” said U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who is policy director for the Congressional Western Caucus.

“This bill is another attempt to empower the federal government. If enacted, this bill would negatively impact ranching and mining and threatens private property rights,” he said Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., introduced the bill Wednesday to restore the authority of the Clean Water Act to what it was before U.S. Supreme Court decisions, according to his press release.

The Congressional Western Caucus stated Wednesday Oberstar’s bill would remove the existing requirement that only “navigable” waterways fall under the Clean Water Act, allowing the federal government to regulate all inland waters on public and private land.

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Western Caucus Chairman U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said “most Westerners are extremely concerned about massive accumulation of federal power. In the past year, the federal government has taken control over our banks, cars and health care. Now, they are seeking to gain control over every drop of water from backyard puddles to the arid playas of the West.

“Look at the federal government’s track record on water. The man-made drought in California’s Central Valley is the direct result of irresponsible federal water policy,” Bishop said.

Oberstar’s news release states the Supreme Court rulings of 2001 and 2008 cut back on authority to regulate lakes, streams and wetlands and created confusion and uncertainty for communities, developers and agricultural interests.

“There was never any doubt that the Clean Water Act was to have broad authority,” said Oberstar, who was a staff assistant to Minnesota Congressman John Blatnik in 1972, one of the chief authors of the Clean Water Act.

“There were no limits on the number of streams, lakes or shorelines to be protected; it just said ‘the waters of the United States.’ The Supreme Court has greatly limited the scope of the act and greatly confused the application of existing law,” Oberstar said.

According to the Congressional Western Caucus, Bishop and House and Senate Western Caucus members outlined their concerns about a similar Senate bill and the expected House bill in a letter Dec. 8, 2009, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Caucus spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said Wednesday the Senate bill was introduced in April 2009, and the caucus was expecting Oberstar to introduce his bill.

“It was something he was talking about doing for some time,” she said.