Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal and Other Publications Q4 2015 Business Journal | Page 13

U.S. Senator John Barrasso
Clean Up the Clean Water Rule
By: U.S. Senators John Barrasso (RWY), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Jim Inhofe
(R-OK), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)

Whether you’re a farmer in
Indiana or a rancher in Wyoming,
a Republican from Oklahoma or
a Democrat from North Dakota –
we all want clean water.
EPA’s new rule will attempt
to redefine which sources of
water can be regulated under
the Clean Water Act. Thirtyone states and several industry
groups have sued to prevent
the rule from moving forward.
The EPA wrote and finalized its
“Waters of the United States”
rule without consulting with some
of the people who care about
clean water the most: farmers,
ranchers, small business owners.
The problem is that the rule,
while well-intentioned, provides
excessive burdens for small
farmers and ranchers. As such,
the new rules have created
considerable and potentially
costly confusion for many
American businesses and
communities who are just trying
to do their jobs well.
EPA’s Waters of the U.S. rule has
raised concerns across nearly
every sector of our economy,
from agriculture, real estate
and, energy to construction,
conservation and recreation. In
fact, even our local communities
– cities, towns, and counties –
are expressing concern. The
National Association of Counties
said, “the flawed consultation

process has resulted in a final
rule that does not move us closer
to achieving clean water goals
and creates more confusion than
clarity.”
American Farm Bureau
Federation President Bob
Stallman said, “The only thing
that is clear and certain is that,
under this rule, it will be more
difficult for private landowners to
farm and ranch, build homes or
make changes to the land – even
if the changes that landowners
propose would benefit the
environment.”
Most Americans believe we can
get more accomplished when we
work together. We agree. That’s
why we worked as a group to

“Most Americans
believe we can get
more accomplished
when we work
together. We agree.”
introduce bipartisan legislation,
the Federal Water Quality
Protection Act, which would
direct the EPA write a better
rule that better serves farmers,
ranchers and small businesses
by simply making sure that the
agency works with our partners
across the country to integrate
the feedback from those who live
and work alongside these waters
every day. They are the ones
EPA’s rule most directly impacts,
so they should have their voices
heard about how the rule works
or doesn’t work – something that

was missing before this rule
was released.
This is something both parties
can get behind, by focusing
on