Signs Amicus Brief supporting states’ authority over water
WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 04, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson signed onto an amicus brief regarding the recent decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the American Farm Bureau Federation v. United States Environmental Protection Agency. The brief outlines concerns about the EPA’s overreach in the Chesapeake Bay blueprint, in which the EPA has issued an ultimatum to states that if they don’t follow the federal blueprint, they risk the EPA taking over their water quality plans under the Clean Water Act.
“We’ve seen a lot of examples of EPA overreach throughout the Obama Administration,” said Simpson, “but this is one of the most egregious. The Third Circuit Court has basically handed the EPA the right to usurp states’ authority over their own water, as long as the law doesn’t expressly prohibit them doing so. This is totally backwards—agencies should only act when Congress expressly authorizes them to do so, and the idea that Congress should have to pass laws to prohibit each and every activity that an agency could do is ludicrous. If this can happen in the Chesapeake Bay area, it can happen in Idaho, and I am extremely concerned about the implications of this decision.”
Simpson sits on the subcommittee that oversees the budget for the EPA. He has long opposed efforts by the Obama Administration to expand the agency’s jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.
