The Associated Equipment Distributors has joined the campaign to build support for a new bill to beat back the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) attack on state authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act (H.R. 2018) has major implications for equipment distributors around the country.  In recent years, the Obama EPA has used the CWA permitting process to block coal mines in Appalachia; however, quarries, farmers, and commercial, residential, and infrastructure construction projects also receive CWA scrutiny and are potentially affected by EPA’s abuse of its authority.

“Anyone who turns dirt is a potential EPA target,” AED President & CEO Toby Mack said.  “The negative economic consequences of these regulatory excesses for the nation and the equipment industry are enormous.  T&I Committee Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL) are the bill’s lead sponsors.

HR 2018 would:

1. Amend the CWA to restore the long-standing balance between federal and state partners in regulating the nation’s waters;
2. Preserve the system of cooperative federalism established under the CWA, which gives states primary responsibility for water pollution control; and,
3. Prevent EPA from second-guessing or delaying a state’s CWA permitting and water quality certification decisions if EPA has already approved a state’s program.

“Under the Obama Administration, EPA continues to strangle economic growth in this country with its overreaching and arbitrary regulatory regime,” Chairman Mica said.  “This bill will help ensure a common sense regulatory regime that does not unnecessarily harm our nation’s farmers, miners and other businesses critical to our economy.  We must restore and preserve the federal-state partnership that is the foundation of the Clean Water Act but which is being progressively undermined by EPA.”

Bipartisan cooperation, particularly on environmental issues, is rare in Washington’s charged partisan environment.  The fact that the senior Democrat on the T&I Committee is playing a lead role on this bill shows just how bad EPA’s excesses have become.

The proposed bill provides for the following.

1. Provide common sense protections for states’ EPA-approved water quality standards and permitting authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
2. Restrict EPA’s ability to issue a revised or new water quality standard for a pollutant if a state has adopted – and EPA has already approved – a standard, unless the state concurs.
3. Prohibit EPA from superseding a water quality certification granted by a state under CWA Sec. 401.
4. Limit EPA’s ability to withdraw approval of a state water quality permitting program under CWA Sec. 402.
5. Limits EPA’s ability to object to a state’s issuance of a pollutant discharge permit.
6. Place limits on EPA’s ability to veto dredge and fill permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers and gives states more flexibility to administer these permitting programs.