North Dakota officials push to stop Clean Water Rule
October 05, 2015 |09:24 AM
BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota officials are determined to stop the implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water rule, also known as the Waters of the United States rule, but the courts seem a better route than legislation at this point.
Doug Goehring
At the convention of the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota, Doug Goehring, the elected Republican state agriculture commissioner, said that 5,600 linear miles of North Dakota have been considered navigable waters and under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency.
But the Clean Water Rule would add put another 81,000 miles under EPA jurisdiction.
“Almost every square inch of north Dakota is captured under the rule,” Goehring said.
Goehring praised Judge Ralph Erickson of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota for issuing a temporary injunction against implementation of the Clean Water Rule in 13 states and said he hopes that the courts soon resolve how to handle the other cases that have brought against the rule.
“It has become more frustrating the last couple years the way EPA is dealing with things [such as] guidance documents on land that is owned and operated by farmers and ranchers. I don’t think it is going to decrease,” Goehring said.
“People say they don’t get why farmers and ranchers are paranoid,” he said, but noted that farmers and ranchers and state officials commented on the proposed Clean Water Rule. “The final rule was broader and more restrictive. It was like they thumbed their noses at us,” he said.
Sen Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.
Sen Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., told the same meeting that when Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., visited the state recently, she told him to look down from a plane and to realize that the Clean Water Rule would cover all the water below.
Heitkamp said that when EPA officials are asked whether a water body would come under EPA jurisdiction, “their answer will be ‘maybe.’ ”
“ ‘Maybe’ is absolutely the wrong answer,” she said. “The right answer is no.”
Until North Dakotans get a “no” from EPA, they should oppose the Clean Water Rule, Heitkamp said.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he believes opposition to the Clean Water Rule will ultimately be successful.
“I think we are going to get there. It is working in our favor,” Hoeven said.
But he also said he does not believe that authorizing legislation to stop the rule would work, because even if 60 senators supported it, there would not be the 67 senators necessary to overturn a veto from President Barack Obama.
Hoeven said he has once again included a measure in an appropriations bill to stop implementation, but its fate will depend on how Congress finishes the appropriations process this year.
He also noted that the senators from agricultural states have to be careful what they put on the Senate floor because the bills are subject to amendments that they would consider counterproductive.
“There are a lot of amendments we don’t like,” Hoeven said.
At the convention of the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota, Doug Goehring, the elected Republican state agriculture commissioner, said that 5,600 linear miles of North Dakota have been considered navigable waters and under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency.
But the Clean Water Rule would add put another 81,000 miles under EPA jurisdiction.
“Almost every square inch of north Dakota is captured under the rule,” Goehring said.
Goehring praised Judge Ralph Erickson of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota for issuing a temporary injunction against implementation of the Clean Water Rule in 13 states and said he hopes that the courts soon resolve how to handle the other cases that have brought against the rule.
“It has become more frustrating the last couple years the way EPA is dealing with things [such as] guidance documents on land that is owned and operated by farmers and ranchers. I don’t think it is going to decrease,” Goehring said.
“People say they don’t get why farmers and ranchers are paranoid,” he said, but noted that farmers and ranchers and state officials commented on the proposed Clean Water Rule. “The final rule was broader and more restrictive. It was like they thumbed their noses at us,” he said.
Sen Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., told the same meeting that when Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., visited the state recently, she told him to look down from a plane and to realize that the Clean Water Rule would cover all the water below.
Heitkamp said that when EPA officials are asked whether a water body would come under EPA jurisdiction, “their answer will be ‘maybe.’ ”
“ ‘Maybe’ is absolutely the wrong answer,” she said. “The right answer is no.”
Until North Dakotans get a “no” from EPA, they should oppose the Clean Water Rule, Heitkamp said.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he believes opposition to the Clean Water Rule will ultimately be successful.
“I think we are going to get there. It is working in our favor,” Hoeven said.
But he also said he does not believe that authorizing legislation to stop the rule would work, because even if 60 senators supported it, there would not be the 67 senators necessary to overturn a veto from President Barack Obama.
Hoeven said he has once again included a measure in an appropriations bill to stop implementation, but its fate will depend on how Congress finishes the appropriations process this year.
He also noted that the senators from agricultural states have to be careful what they put on the Senate floor because the bills are subject to amendments that they would consider counterproductive.
“There are a lot of amendments we don’t like,” Hoeven said.
