AG Wilson Joins Governors, Fellow AG’s in Wanting “Waters of the U. S.” Proposal Withdrawn

Attorney General Alan Wilson Joins Governors, Fellow AG’s in Wanting “Waters of the U. S.” Proposal Withdrawn

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) Attorney General Alan Wilson joined with sixteen governors and attorneys general in asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to withdraw their proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule.

On April 21, 2014, the EPA and Corps jointly released a proposed rule called Definition of Waters of the U.S. Under the Clean Water Act. It would greatly expand the definition of waters that fall under federal jurisdiction. Under the proposal, roadside ditches, small creeks, farm ponds, flood control channels, drainage conveyances and storm water systems would be subject to federal regulation. That, in turn, would impose new hardships on county governments, farmers, developers and small businesses.

Attorney General Wilson joined fellow attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and West Virginia, along with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and the governors of Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, and North Carolina, in a joint letter formally requesting that the proposal be scrapped.

Wilson said, “If the ‘Waters of the U.S.’ rule is allowed to take effect, it could have a catastrophic impact on South Carolina’s economy. Farmers would suddenly be burdened by excessive red tape. County governments would be straddled by costly regulations. These onerous regulations would treat a simple drainage ditch the same as ‘navigable water’ such as the Mississippi River. These proposed policies are simply bad for all South Carolinians.”

A copy of the letter to the EPA and Corps is available here.

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