Obama Vetoes Clean Water Act Restrictions Resolution Effort By Joni Ernst
President Barack Obama used his powerful pen to veto a Clean Water Act resolution by Congress. The legislative body was attempting to overturn controversial authority granted to the EPA, which has been deemed as a major power grab and infringement on property rights by opponents.
Joni Ernst, the first female Senator from Iowa, is leading the charge to scale back the EPA Clean Water Act dictates. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Ernst brought the Agenda 21 deal nationwide attention during her office race. Agenda 21, which has now been surpassed by Agenda 2030, is a voluntary and non-binding biodiversity action plan that is allegedly focused only on sustainable development and not control of the land and water resources. The plan was adopted by the United States and 177 other countries to “properly manage” cities in “fragile” environmental resources in 1992. To date, more than 500 medium and large metropolitan areas in the United States have enacted Agenda 21 sustainability endeavors.
President Obama’s Clean Water Act veto was the ninth such action. In 2014, the Waters of the United States rule was approved amid heated backlash. The regulation vastly expanded the definition of waters which would be placed under the jurisdiction of the EPA. Simply because a pond is on your land does not necessarily mean that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot restrict its use, creation, or expansion.
“Too many of our waters have been left vulnerable. Pollution from upstream sources ends up in the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters near which most Americans live and on which they depend for their drinking water, recreation, and economic development,” President Obama said about the Clean Water Act.
In an effort to defeat the growing reach of the federal agency, Republicans in Congress chose to invoke the Congressional Review Act. The rarely-used avenue of legislation action requires a two-thirds approval vote to overturn a presidential veto. The measure passed 53 to 44 in the Senate and by 253 to 166 in the House, falling short of the number of votes needed to erase Obama’s veto, MSN reports.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Waters of the U.S. expansion of the Clean Water Act was reportedly written with the intention of adding “some clarity” to two Supreme Court decisions issued in 2001 and 2006. The court rulings have actually enhanced confusion about what waters the EPA can control. Therefore, the need for a new mandate was necessary, the White House contends.
A previous media release issued jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army release states that the federal government has “jurisdiction over tributaries that show physical features of flowing water as well as water that is within a certain proximity to rivers, lake and tributaries.”
Congress, States and Business Urge Supreme Court to Review EPA?s Clean Water Act Overreach https://t.co/KohGDZI64a pic.twitter.com/Ffp8VzdzFT
— Ranching&Beefcattle (@RanchingRR) December 14, 2015
Although the Congressional Review Act did spark the anticipated results, Joni Ernst is not giving up the fight to overturn the Clean Water Act restrictions staunchly opposed by many members of Congress, rural property owners, farmers, and ranchers.
“We all want clean water,” Senator Ernst said. “This rule is not about clean water. Rather, it is about how much authority the federal government and un-elected bureaucrats should have to regulate what is done on private land.”
What do you think about the Clean Water Act and the enhanced powers offered to the EPA to control waters on private land? Does the Waters of the United States Act infringe upon the rights of property owners and illustrate shades of Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030?
[Image via Shutterstock.com]
