The National Chicken Council this week joined dozens of agricultural and manufacturing organizations in a letter and technical comments citing Supreme Court precedent for the repeal of the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
In a letter addressed to Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Andrew Wheeler and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (Army Corps) R.D. James, the groups announced support for the EPA’s recent proposal to repeal the WOTUS rule, consistent with longstanding NCC policy, and cited decades of Supreme Court precedent for the repeal of the rule.
The letter in particular references a 2001 Supreme Court opinion from then Justice Anthony Kennedy regarding interpretation of the EPA’s authority to regulate non-navigable, isolated and intrastate ponds under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
“In short,” it argues, “any attempt to reassert jurisdiction over the SWANCC ponds and comparable water features would violate the plain text of the CWA, be contrary to Supreme Court jurisprudence construing the Act, impermissibly intrude on the states’ traditional and primary authority over land and water use, and raise serious constitutional and federalism questions.”
Technical comments expanding on the judicial history and precedent were also filed with the EPA.
