Wotus Archives - Page 3 of 4 - CFACT

Scott Pruitt EPA swamp-draining fear brings crocodile tears

Last Friday’s 56-42 Senate vote confirmation of Scott Pruitt as top EPA administrator brings a very unwelcome political climate change for many of the agency’s 15,000 federal career employees and their executive branch-appointed bosses who fought his approval tooth and claw. Referring to their aggressive and defiant letter-writing and telephone campaign protesting Pruitt’s appointment, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University Director James Thurber told the New York Times, “It is rare…I can’t think of any other time when people in the bureaucracy have done this.” The vast majority of those protesters are Civil Service employees who can’t be [...]

By Larry Bell |2017-02-21T14:28:34-05:00February 21st, 2017|14 Comments

Courts tackling Clean Water Act abuses

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the North Dakota-based Hawkes Co., which had planned to mine peat from property in Minnesota, could challenge in court a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) ruling declaring the property counted as “regulated wetlands” without first having to go through the costly process necessary to obtain a permit to disturb wetlands.

By H. Sterling Burnett |2016-07-22T08:33:09-04:00July 19th, 2016|Comments Off

Wyoming rancher thumps EPA on bogus wetlands violation

In a 21st century replay of the biblical battle between David and Goliath, Wyoming rancher Andy Johnson felled the most powerful regulatory giant in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |2016-06-28T16:27:59-04:00June 28th, 2016|41 Comments

Supreme Court delivers a second defeat to EPA’s agenda in just 7 days

The Supreme Court sided against the federal government in another wetlands case, which could make the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to extend its control over more bodies of water on private property even harder.

By CFACT Ed |2016-06-07T10:49:46-04:00June 7th, 2016|5 Comments

Feds tighten the screws on Endangered Species Act enforcement

The Interior Department has been quietly writing new rules and regulations under the Endangered Species Act that will hand broad new powers to federal bureaucrats.

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |2016-04-08T08:06:41-04:00April 6th, 2016|3 Comments

The most ABSURD 2015 EPA power-grabs of dubious legality

EPA has made a lot of power grabs of dubious legality over the last year, from forcing unpopular regulations through over the objections of Congress to illegally using social media to promote Obama’s policies. So without further ado, here are the top 5 EPA attempts to grab power through quasi-legal means.

By CFACT Ed |2016-01-03T11:39:27-05:00January 3rd, 2016|1 Comment

EPA fights for control of farm ponds

In a victory for landowners, a Cincinnati federal court blocke implementation of the EPA's controversial Waters of the United States rules. But the lawless federal agency says it intends to enforce the rule anyway despite the court injunction.

By Larry Bell |2015-11-11T12:11:16-05:00November 11th, 2015|1 Comment

Fed court places WOTUS on hold nationwide

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!

By Craig Rucker |2015-10-09T19:58:49-04:00October 9th, 2015|4 Comments

Rolling back the tide of big government overreach

In little more than 30 days, there have been five distinct cases that you may have missed--each, a victory for responsible land use.

By Marita Noon |2015-10-06T17:31:03-04:00October 6th, 2015|3 Comments

Wyoming farmer in EPA’s crosshairs

Wyoming farmer Andy Johnson is the unlikely target of an EPA vendetta -- facing tens of millions of dollars in fines for daring to build a stock pond -- which the Clean Water Act specifically bars the agency from regulating -- on his property after obtaining all the required state permits. Meanwhile, the agency is facing no penalties at all for its massive spill of metals-laden water into the Animas River in New Mexico.

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |2015-09-11T12:47:51-04:00September 9th, 2015|4 Comments

WOTUS: Court blocks EPA water rule

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.

By Craig Rucker |2015-08-28T00:34:36-04:00August 28th, 2015|3 Comments

WOTUS: Whom do you trust with your water after EPA’s toxic spill?

EPA was created in 1970 largely in response to the Cuyahoga River in Ohio catching on fire. Forty-five years later, things have come full circle. Now, it is EPA that is polluting a vast river system in the Southwest. Should EPA be allowed to take over the rest of the "waters of the United States?"

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |2015-08-21T08:28:03-04:00August 20th, 2015|1 Comment

The agency that contaminated the Animas River is about to start regulating water that may be in your backyard

Unless a federal judge issues a preliminary injunction, the definition of the “Waters of the U.S.” will change on August 28—giving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate the water in your backyard (even the water that might be in your backyard due to a heavy rain). Even, according to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey: “any area where agencies believe water may flow once every 100 years.” Thirty-one states, in four districts, have filed motions with the federal courts to block the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) from beginning to enforce the new “Waters [...]

By Marita Noon |2015-08-17T14:58:13-04:00August 17th, 2015|9 Comments

EPA flooded with lawsuits over controversial water rule

Twenty-nine states have filed lawsuits against the EPA for redefining the “Waters of the United States,” or WOTUS. Should local streams, irrigation ponds, roadside ditches, and even “connective” dry lands be placed under the authority of the Clean Water Act?

By Ron Arnold |2015-07-22T20:26:28-04:00July 22nd, 2015|30 Comments

Curbing EPA Abuses

What can be done to curb these abuses and usurpations, and rein in this renegade agency?

By Paul Driessen |2015-06-02T07:53:43-04:00June 2nd, 2015|3 Comments