EPA Hands Over Maps

The most recent news in the EPA’s proposed Waters of the United States is that last week, the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology released maps of waters and wetlands that the EPA until that time had refrained from making public.
EPA’s External Affairs Tom Reynolds states that the maps serve as a tool for visualizing how water flows across the country. He says that these maps while useful tools for water resource managers — cannot be used to determine Clean Water Act jurisdiction now or ever.
That isn’t how the National Cattlemen Beef Association nor other agricultural groups like the American Farm Bureau view it however. These EPA maps look very similar to the maps produced by NCBA and other agricultural groups earlier in August to demonstrate all the potential waterways that may be affected by WOTUS. NCBA Environmental Counsel Ashley McDonald says
McDonald: “When you add in those ephemeral streams which are those smaller ditches and streams that only hold water when there is a rainfall event. When you add those in, you can have states that will increase their regulated stream mileage by 100,000 miles. That clearly shows you where EPA intends to go with this regulation. In looking at the states, you can tell that there is virtually no land area that isn’t within a hop, skip or a jump from a regulated water of the U.S. which means that land activity is going to be highly regulated like never before.”