Less bureaucracy.
Via Helena IR:
In Montana, where water is for fighting over as much as it is for drinking, news this week that the federal government was repealing an Obama-era clean water rule was toasted.
This state and 26 others sued the federal government in 2015 to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers from expanding the federal control of waterways under the Clean Water Act. The so called “Waters of the United States” rule sought to establish federal control over streams and waterways considered navigable.
Montana farm groups, home builders and county governments feared the new rule, established by presidential executive order without Congressional approval, would ultimately require federal approval for water bodies as small as roadside barrow pits and stock ponds.
“The EPA was adopting rules and those rules would have seriously impacted counties’ ability to make roads,” said Harold Blattie, director of the Montana Association of Counties. “Their rule would have really hamstrung counties’ ability to do routine maintenance.”
Imagine applying for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers any time a barrow pit was constructed to catch storm water along a two-lane road, Blattie said. Because the permits can take several weeks, if not longer, counties found the decision easy to join a lawsuit opposing the Waters of the United States rule.[…]
After Republicans took control of both the House and Senate, President Barack Obama resorted to executive orders to advance several issues, including water quality and the regulation of greenhouse gasses contributing to climate change. Those orders only stay on the books as long as the current executive obliges and President Donald Trump has repealed or vowed to repeal several.