Contact: Jack Mozloom 202-406-4450
or 609-462-5610 (cell)
SCOTUS
decision gives EPA green light to regulate construction, farming, and other
small business activities in the Chesapeake watershed region
Washington,
DC (February 29, 2016) – Small businesses in the Chesapeake Bay region are
bracing for new EPA regulations that could limit economic development as the
result of a decision today by the US Supreme Court, said the National Federation of Independent Business
(NFIB).
“This is a very troubling decision because it
validates federal intervention even where states are already regulating
aggressively,” said Karen Harned,
Executive Director of the NFIB Small Business Legal Center.
The Court today let stand an earlier decision by a
three-judge panel in Philadelphia allowing the EPA to override state programs
to protect natural resources. The case results
from President Obama’s 2009 executive order directing the EPA to essentially
federalize environmental protection in the Chesapeake Bay region, which
includes Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
“This is not about whether the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed is an important natural resource that needs protection,” said
Harned. “The question is whether that
responsibility belongs to the states that are better able to balance
environmental protection with economic concerns. What the Court said today is that the federal
government can swoop in and impose another one-size-fits-all solution.”
For more information about NFIB, please visit www.nfib.com.
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