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At issue is nearly five-decade-old confusion over what constitutes “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA).
In Episode 67 of District of Conservation, Gabriella discusses a viral video of a Virginia Delegate, Mark Levine, gunsplaining about what gun owners should own and shouldn't own to justify his House Bill 961 that would ban commonly owned sporting rifles like the AR-15; President Trump endorsing the One Trillion Tree Initiative; and new EPA finalized "waters of the United States" rules. Show Notes: My appearance on Cam & Co: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nuQbBh6834 Mark Levine's town hall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlimCLccxpQ&feature=emb_logo Resurgent Article: https://theresurgent.com/2020/01/27/anti-gun-virginia-delegate-cant-define-assault-weapons-he-wants-to-ban/ One Trillion Trees: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/trump-pledges-to-help-plant-1-trillion-trees & https://www.eenews.net/stories/1062140957 Rep. Westerman Tweet: https://twitter.com/RepWesterman/status/1222191225966645249 New WOTUS Rules - EPA: https://www.epa.gov/nwpr/navigable-waters-protection-rule-step-two-revise
The Trump administration has overturned and replaced an Obama-era rule that would have imposed federal zoning on millions of acres of private land throughout the country.
The Obama administration’s WOTUS rule was that it broadened the scope of federal control so much that even ditches that happened to fill with water could fall under the government’s “navigable waters” scope of authority.
Gabriella Hoffman: President Obama’s EPA deemed all bodies of water—including puddles and ditches— as “navigable waters” subject to regulation under the WOTUS rule.
By rolling back Obama’s 2015 “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, the administration has put an end to the biggest power grab in the 48-year history of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In Episode 15 of District of Conservation, Gabriella explains the situation with the greater sage grouse and reforms to the 2015 plan; conservation groups backing a "Sportsmen's Package" during the Lame Duck Session, and newly announced plans to scale back the overreaches of the 2015 Waters of the U.S. which subjects all bodies of water, including puddles and ditches, to regulation. SHOW NOTES: SAGE GROUSE IUCN Status on Sage Grouse and Threats to It: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22679503/92816586 Final Records of Decision from September 2015 explaining plan for greater sage grouse: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/historic-conservation-campaign-protects-greater-sage-grouse Pew on 2015 sage grouse plan: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2015/09/22/sage-grouse-habitat-protected-by-historic-obama-administration-plans Wyoming Tribune Eagle on state's [...]
President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting a major Obama-era policy expanding federal authority over bodies of water. “Let’s start hiring those people, fellas,” Trump said before signing the order while surrounded by federal lawmakers and county officials. Trump ordered federal agencies to make sure “waters are kept free from pollution, while at the same time promoting economic growth, minimizing regulatory uncertainty” and respecting the role of states and Congress. Trump also ordered agencies to define “navigable waters” in a “manner consistent with the opinion of Justice Antonin Scalia in Rapanos v. United States” — a more narrow interpretation of [...]
Friday was not a good day for the Obama EPA. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals expanded the stay on the Administration's land-grabbing water rule beyond the states that appealed, to the entire nation. The pushback against regulatory overreach is on!
At the eleventh hour a federal court ordered an injunction blocking EPA's water rule. EPA was defiant. EPA bureaucrats declared that they will only halt the rule in the 13 states that requested the injunction.