For Immediate Release
Andrew Wimer, 202-314-2073 or 703-298-5938 (cell)
Follow NFIB on Twitter @NFIB
Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewWimer
NFIB predicts big
headaches for local business owners who must now deal with the EPA on projects
that don’t even remotely affect “navigable” waterways
Washington, DC (May 27, 2015) –The White House
surprised no one today by approving another massive federal intrusion into
local business decisions and the fight against it is far from over, said the National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
“This has the potential to bring local development to a stop
and make it much more difficult for small businesses to make even minor
improvements to their properties,” said NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner.
“It gives the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers new power to regulate local
projects and local business operations, and it creates for the trial lawyers
and the environmental activists a whole new class of potential defendants.”
The Clean Water Act, passed 30 years ago, gave the EPA the
authority to regulate navigable waters like rivers and bays. Regulating
streams, creeks and ponds was, until today, wisely considered a state and local
responsibility.
“The state’s do a much better job of balancing environmental
protection with economic development because they need both,” said
Danner. “This tips the scale in favor of distant regulators and
ideologues who won’t have to live with the consequences.”
The need for balance is precisely why Congress requires the
EPA to conduct a small business impact analysis before it imposes sweeping new
regulations. In this case, however, the EPA simply leap-frogged that
step.
“The process was rigged in favor of the agencies,” said NFIB
Senior Manager of Regulatory Policy Dan Bosch. “They simply decided
that they didn’t even need to consider the effects on small business. That
analysis is required by law. It’s not optional.”
Also, as reported by the New
York Times, the EPA engaged in a vast campaign to build support for the
rule. The agency encouraged the public to submit comments in favor of a
regulation the agency had itself written. This may violate federal prohibitions
on engaging in grassroots lobbying to support government policies.
“Government agencies aren’t allowed to write regulations and
then gin up public support for their own policies,” said Bosch. “The EPA
claims that the public comment process demonstrates support for their rule, but
they worked hand-in-hand with outside groups to run up the score. The
objections of small businesses were buried as the agency encouraged the kind of
comments they wanted to see.”
Small businesses are concerned about the expansion as it
could lead to expensive permits, fees and fines in order to comply. The average
cost of a Clean Water Act permit is $270,000 and daily fines for violations can
reach up to $37,500. Few small businesses could afford to expand operations if
subjected to the federal requirements. Under the rule, federal authority could
extend to puddles, ponds and streambeds that are dry most of the time.
The NFIB supports legislation in Congress to stop the rule.
The House recently passed H.R. 1732, legislation to prevent the agencies from
enforcing the current rule and require them to work cooperatively with states
and small businesses before creating a new rule. In the Senate, S. 1140 has
also been introduced and would take similar steps to stop the rule.
See the following links for clips of Dan Bosch explaining: why Small businesses are worried, how the rule is a radical expansion of
federal authority and, how the EPA
broke the rules when writing the regulation.
More information on the rule is available at www.nfib.com/waters. For more information
about NFIB please visit www.nfib.com.
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