Last Thursday, July 27, marked the start of the 30-day comment period on the EPA’s proposal to withdraw the 2015 WOTUS rule. The deadline for comments is Aug. 28, so please comment now!
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has provided the following information to make your task easier:
Step 1 – Go to: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0203-0001
Step 2- Copy and paste (or modify) the following sample comments:
I am writing to support the proposal to repeal the 2015 “Waters of the U.S.” rule.
As a cattle producer, I strongly support this effort. Water is important to me and my family farming operation. I am glad that you recognize the flaws of the current WOTUS rule. It is overly broad and creates heavy burdens and costs, legal risk and tremendous uncertainty for farmers, ranchers and others, like me, who depend on the land. Under the 2015 rule, farmers, ranchers and other landowners across the country face new roadblocks to ordinary land-use activities.
I applaud EPA for taking this important first step toward developing a new definition of waters of the United States that will protect water quality while also promoting economic growth, minimizing regulatory uncertainty, and respecting the proper roles of Congress and the states under the Constitution.
The WOTUS rule has never been implemented because it was stayed by both a federal district court and a federal court of appeals due to its flaws and violations. Challengers raised numerous substantive and procedural defects in the rule, including that the rule exceeds EPA’s statutory authority, imposes burdensome regulatory uncertainty, was finalized in violation of mandatory procedural requirements designed to ensure a well-informed result, and is otherwise unlawful. In all, the rule was challenged in multiple courts by all sides (31 states and 53 non-state parties, including environmental groups, state and local governments, farmers, landowners, developers, businesses, and recreation groups).
The EPA should move forward and ditch this rule once and for all, then go back to the drawing board and write a new rule that protects water quality without trampling the rights of landowners, businesses, and the states.
Sincerely,
[Add your name here.]
[Add your Cattlemen’s Association here.]