Posted on 03/12/2014 11:24:13 AM PDT by reaganaut1
...
The Environmental Protection Agency is set to issue regulations that farmers like Mr. Lemeke say may require them to get permits for work for which they have long been exempt. The E.P.A. says the new rules are needed to clarify which bodies of water it must oversee under the federal Clean Water Act, an issue of jurisdiction that the agency says has been muddled by recent court rulings. Opponents say the rules are a power grab that could stifle economic growth and intrude on property owners’ rights.
There is no timetable for when the rules will be released. But if the agency expands its jurisdiction over streams like the one on Mr. Lemeke’s farm, he and other farmers say, the move could prove costly by requiring farmers to pay fees for environmental assessments and to get permits just to till the soil near gullies, ditches or dry streambeds where water only flows when it rains. A permit is required for any activity, like farming or construction, that creates a discharge into a body of water covered under the Clean Water Act or effects the health of it, like filling in a wetland or blocking a stream.
The proposed regulations have also raised concerns among industries beyond agriculture, and objections have been filed by the National Mining Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the International Council of Shopping Centers, the American Forest and Paper Association and the National Association of Realtors.
To coordinate the opposition efforts, those groups joined forces nearly three years ago with several agriculture trade organizations, like the American Farm Bureau Federation, to create the Waters Advocacy Coalition to lobby against increased environmental regulation.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Of course, it will. The government taxes requires permit$ for everything.
One permit for 3 kidneys and 2 children to be sold as slaves,
unless the (soon to be ex-) farmer is a Moslem,
or narcoterrorist, or DNC Captain, of course.
Control access to healthcare...
Control access to food...
Control access to energy...
Hmmm...I think Mao did something similar before his reign of terror...
Cali-domor.....
Pretty much soon comming soon to a EPA controled FEMA region near you....
Just wait until they require permits to mow your lawn, scrape off dog doo, or remove the permanent campaign sign for his royal Highness King Barry The First and the Royal Consort, Michelle the Magnificent from your lawn.
In Maryland, sometimes you need a permit to chop down a tree on your own property. It is so ridiculous.
Originally, and since the 1970s, they were regulated as "navigable waters" but the court ruling muddled the water by saying all of those waters weren't navigable waters.
So they have been trying to re-implement the regs.
The waters will be regulated by some govt entity, but it might be a state or county govt, rather than the feds.
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