Waters of the U.S. rule could affect 97 percent of state, legislators fear.
Saying the rule threatens small business and farmers, lawmakers from Iowa are urging the new president to scrap the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation.
“This misguided WOTUS rule is an economic assault on small businesses, manufacturing and agriculture, and threatens the very livelihood of our fellow Iowans,” wrote Sen. Joni K. Ernst, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Rep. David Young, Rep. Rod Blum, and Rep. Steve King in the letter to President-elect Donald Trump.
“These industries are the backbone of this country, especially in rural America,” said the letter. “The election results signaled that Americans are ready for the last eight years of EPA’s power grabbing mentality to come to an end.”
The WOTUS rule, issued in 2015, allows the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to have jurisdiction over not just traditional navigable waters, but also
“those waters that require protection in order to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, or biological integrity of traditional navigable waters, interstate waters, and the territorial seas.”
The Iowa lawmakers’ letter says that means the EPA could have extensive power to regulate activities on 97 percent of the land in Iowa.
The rule is not in effect yet because of a court injunction. But critics fear that if the injunction is lifted, small businesses and others would have to spend significant amounts of time and money to get federal permits to do such things as landscaping on their own property if that work impacts even a small patch of water.
