HELENA, Mont., Nov. 5, 2015—The representative group for Montana’s small-business owners today applauded yesterday’s passage of a measure in the U.S. Senate that would nullify the EPA’s controversial Waters of the US (WOTUS) regulation. Sen. Steve Daines voted for it, Sen. Jon Tester against.
By a tally of 53 to 44, senators approved a resolution disapproving the EPA’s and the Army Corps of Engineers’ WOTUS rule, a sweeping new regulation giving the federal government vast authority over even the most local property improvements, on the theory that nation’s drinking water is potentially jeopardized by small projects. Three senators did not vote.
“This was not some small procedural vote,” said Riley Johnson, Montana state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s voice of small business. “This massive, and we believe, unconstitutional regulation puts Montana’s family farmers, ranchers and small businesses in great jeopardy. We’re very pleased that a bipartisan majority in the Senate acted on behalf of Montana small businesses.”
“Forty years ago, Congress gave the EPA the authority to regulate navigable waterways like rivers and bays,” said Steve Keen, NFIB’s manager of Senate Legislative Affairs. “It never intended for federal regulators to decide whether a waterfront restaurant can expand its parking lot or whether a local builder can put a cabin on a lake. What’s worse is that if a local business owner undertakes a small project without getting EPA approval, he opens himself up to environmental lawsuits that could destroy his business entirely. This is going to make local economic development riskier and more expensive.”
An editorial written by Johnson explaining WOTUS can be read here. Additional information can be found at www.nfib.com.
###
The National Federation of Independent Business, NFIB, is the nation’s leading small business advocacy association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small- and independent-business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system.
National Federation of Independent Business/Montana
491 South Park Ave.
Helena, MT 59601
406-443-3797
Twitter: @NFIB_MT
