Federal Watchdog & Tea Party Report—March 20, 2012

Defend Property Rights Against EPA 'Navigable Waters' Overreach
The notorious Clean Water Act of 1972 has been used by both the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to curtail mining, control land use in agricultural zones, stop expansion of energy companies, and bring an end to construction projects. The ‘navigable waters’ authority is one of the many dangerous avenues that have allowed the agency to engage in enormous unconstitutional assaults on the rights of property owners. Farmers, ranchers, homeowners, business owners, and municipalities have been forced to abide by costly, and sometimes impossible-to-achieve, EPA mandates that have little or nothing to do with protecting the environment and even less to do with exercising legitimate federal authority.

Legislation introduced by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) would target these abuses by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. The Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012, S. 2122, with seven cosponsors so far, would rein in the EPA's regulatory overreach over "navigable waters" on private property that has destroyed the American dream of home building for many Americans. A companion bill will soon be introduced in the House. EPA could actually track the flow of water up a pipe and into your house, and call that a navigable water.

H.R. 452: Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011: To repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Sponsor: Rep. Phil Roe [R-TN1]. Status: Reported by Committee. The committees assigned to this bill or resolution sent it to the House or Senate as a whole for consideration on March 8, 2012. This bill would repeal the so called “Death Panel” which would have 15 bureaucrats appointed by Obama with only 1 person from the healthcare arena allowed. Rep. Roe says this bill has bipartisan support, but will likely be merged with HR 5 Malpractice Reform Bill which does not have bipartisan support.

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act: The U.S. Senate has approved of a $109 billion bill that provides two years of funding for transportation and transit projects around the country. The bill may or may not be taken up by the U.S. House Representatives depending on if they choose to write a separate House bill, but hopefully what will be left out of any final version is an amendment by Montana U.S. Sen. Max Baucus. His amendment funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to the tune of $1.4 billion for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 — quite a jump from the $323 million it is currently receiving in FY 2012. This Fund helps purchase and protects lands across the country. Evidently the line of thinking within the Senate is more U.S. lands are in need of being purchased and protected by the federal government. (Sen. Burr voted against this bill and Sen. Hagan voted for it.)

UPCOMING VOTES
Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act - H.R.3606: The Senate is scheduled to take up this House-passed bill that is intended to make it easier for small and mid-sized companies to go public.

Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 - H.R.5: This House bill would place caps on damages in certain medical malpractice lawsuits. Heritage Foundation Opposes Federal Tort Reform Bill. The problem with most of the proposed reforms in H.R. 5 is that the law governing medical malpractice claims is a state issue, not a federal issue. Despite H.R. 5's reliance on the Commerce Clause, Congress has no business (and no authority under the Constitution) telling states what the rules should be governing medical malpractice claims.

Republican and Democratic Congressmen are trying to amend H.R. 5 to protect states' and individual rights before the House votes on it later this week. Americans who cherish their God-given rights should call the U.S.Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121, ask to speak with their Congressman and insist that he/she oppose that bill unless the unconstitutional language is removed.

Two important rallies coming up as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the case on the constitutionality of Obamacare:

March 24, 2012: Tea Party Patriots, Road to Repeal Rally, 12:00 Noon, Washington, DC https://www.roadtorepeal.com/

March 27, 2012: Americans for Prosperity, Hands Off Our Healthcare Rally, Upper Senate Park, Washington D.C. http://www.americansforprosperity.org/north-carolina#ixzz1nAcbtEO3

Please read below about this important bill and then call your Senators!!

Defend Property Rights Against EPA 'Navigable Waters' Overreach


The notorious Clean Water Act of 1972 has been used by both the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to curtail mining, control land use in agricultural zones, stop expansion of energy companies, and bring an end to construction projects. As The New American Senior Editor William F. Jasper stated, “The ‘navigable waters’ authority is one of the many dangerous avenues that have allowed the agency to engage in enormous unconstitutional assaults on the rights of property owners. Farmers, ranchers, homeowners, business owners, and municipalities have been forced to abide by costly, and sometimes impossible-to-achieve, EPA mandates that have little or nothing to do with protecting the environment and even less to do with exercising legitimate federal authority.”

Legislation introduced by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) would target these abuses by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. The Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012, S. 2122, with seven cosponsors so far, would rein in the EPA's regulatory overreach over "navigable waters" on private property that has destroyed the American dream of home building for many Americans. A companion bill will soon be introduced in the House.


"Environmental protection must be balanced with the fundamental American right to private property,” Sen. Paul has said, adding, "It is time to bring common sense to federal water policy, and I do so on behalf of the thousands of property owners across the country who have been met with aggression from the EPA and Army Corps for wetlands issues."

From Sen. Paul’s website are these provisions in The Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012:

•Redefine "navigable waters" to explicitly clarify that waters must actually be navigable in fact, or "permanent, standing, or continuously flowing bodies of water that form geographical features commonly known as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes that are connected to waters that are navigable-in-fact."
•Excludes ephemeral or intermittent streams -- the streams that sometimes form when rain falls -- from federal jurisdiction.
•Restrains the EPA and the Army Corps from regulating or "interpreting" the definition of a navigable water without Congressional authorization.
•Protects the rights of states to have primary authority over the land and water within their borders.
•Prohibits federal agents from entering private property without the express consent of the landowner. [Emphasis added.]
•Requires the government to pay double the value of the land to any landowner whose property value is diminished by a wetlands designation.

Passage of this bill would result in less regulatory heavy-handedness by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers in their dealings with property owners and businesses by ending their authority over truly non-navigable waters. However, this bill is stuck in the Senate Committee for Environment and Public Works, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) who has a pattern of opposing any attempts to rein in the EPA’s out-of-control powers. Here is a list of the Senate Majority and Minority leaders of the Committee that you can call immediately and ask for their support to get this bill reported out of committee and passed by the Senate:

Senate Majority Members

Barbara Boxer (202) 224-3553
Max Baucus (202) 224-2651
Thomas R. Carper (202) 224-2441
Frank R. Lautenberg (202) 224-3224
Benjamin L. Cardin (202) 224-4524
Bernard Sanders (202) 224-5141
Sheldon Whitehouse (202) 224-2921
Tom Udall (202) 224-6621
Jeff Merkley (202) 224-3753
Kirsten Gillibrand (202) 224-4451

Senate Minority Members
James M. Inhofe (202) 224-4721
David Vitter (202) 224-4623
John Barrasso 202-224-6441
Jeff Sessions (202) 224-4124
Mike Crapo (202) 224-6142
Lamar Alexander (202) 224-4944
Mike Johanns (202) 224-4224
John Boozman 202) 224-4843

When graded from a constitutional perspective, this is an A+ bill. It should help tremendously to rein in the EPA's and the Corps of Engineers' aggressive regulatory tactics that harm American businesses and families.


Urge your Representative and Senators to cosponsor, support, promote and pass this important bill today using our prewritten, editable email message.

Thanks.
Your friends at The John Birch Society