Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act are great examples. CWA originally covered only “navigable waterways” and now covers anything wet, or even dry land if cattails or other ‘aqueous” plants grow on it.
Find a copy of Range magazine- the Winter 2013 issue and go to page 89.
The EPA is trying to redefine ‘navigable waterway’ to cover a buffalo wallow.
For those who don’t know what that is, there are thousands of depressions in the Western plains that were buffalo wallows.
It is a slight depression, about the size of a 2 horse trailer, in which the buffalo would paw up the ground to get nice soft dust and then they would lay down & roll in the dust. That gave them a barrier against insects.
Such ‘wallows’ are all over about 16 western states.
The EPA wants to include them in ‘navigable waterways’.
They also want to include the rivelets of water which drain off your roof when snow is melting or it is raining. Another ‘navigable waterway’.
This definition change gives them a reason to come onto your private property at any time, without your permission, to make sure you are not ‘interferring’ with a navigable waterway!!!!
Were you expecting guests? Now, you can!!