While
President Obama was enjoying a few rounds golf on Martha’s Vineyard, his Environmental
Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers were taking no vacation from their
efforts to handicap small businesses with yet another government overreach.
Hoping to turn
every wet spot in the nation into a regulatory water hazard, these
mega-bureaucracies are contorting the Clean Water Act to expand their
jurisdiction. Anything from large mud puddles to seasonal streams, ponds,
ditches and even dips in fields could become their penalty playgrounds if this
scheme prevails.
NFIB is
fighting back, building support on Capitol Hill for legislation that will provide
crucial relief for small businesses. As with many absurd rule-making ambushes
attempted by this administration, much effort will be required to stop the government
from seizing more control of your property and stomping on your constitutional
rights as land owners.
But there’s
something you can do right now. Send
urgent comments directly to EPA and the Corps of Engineers to inform them
how this unreasonable Clean Water Act maneuver could harm your business. NFIB helped
secure an extension for these comments until Oct. 20, so don’t wait.
Remember the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, a long-standing
law requiring agencies to consider the burden on small firms before implementing
major rules? The EPA dismisses such inconveniences, saying its proposal is just
a mere change of definitions that will impose no major costs on small
businesses.
No major
costs? You could be fined $37,500 per day for digging, excavating or even
laying gravel on land that could have a remote connection to waters designated
in this attempted land grab.
No worry, the
bureaucrats claim, small-businesses and land owners can apply for a “special”
permit. A special permit to use your own land? And what’s more, EPA wants the
authority to make case-by-case decisions that will lead to even greater
uncertainty.
Such government
permits aren’t cheap–averaging $270,000 according to a recent Supreme Court
case. Neither are these permits issued in a timely fashion; nor is there any
guarantee you’ll ever get one.
The feds also
hint that most farms will be exempted from this monstrosity. Yes, there are
some exemptions from dredge and fill mandates for previously converted
farmland; however, many types of farm operations will be subject to compliance.
In a dogged
effort to sidestep the legislative process and re-write the law books to serve
his political agenda, President Obama and the agencies he runs continue to show
their disdain as small business struggles to survive in an economy that could
be reinvigorated with just a little pro-business action.
Small
business must stand united against this and any other attempts to weaken free
enterprise. Send
those comments today. And make sure you register and vote on Nov. 4 for
NFIB-endorsed candidates.
