Texas Border Business
US Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, and other associations sued the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, challenging their new Waters of the United States rule.
Why it matters: The new rule unlawfully expands the agencies’ authority beyond statutory limits, using vaguely described terms to cover millions of acres of water and land features, including ponds, farms, and backyards.
· Landowners, businesses, and farmers will be forced to hire expensive experts to figure out whether they need permits to use their land. If they guess wrong, they may face severe penalties.
Our take: “While the administration has laid out ambitious climate and infrastructure goals, they will not be achievable with this Waters of the United States rule, which creates needless uncertainty and endless red tape and requires businesses of all sizes to navigate an expensive and time-consuming permitting process,” said Marty Durbin, Chamber Senior Vice President of Policy.
