The regulation nightmare continues
By NewsPress Now
This is the time of year when people enjoy a good scare.
In the horror genre, the best movies contain a false ending. The characters may believe the crisis is over, but the audience knows better. Sure enough, here comes Jason or Michael with a chainsaw or an ax.
Northwest Missouri farmers must know the feeling. With the Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, the false ending involves the federal bureaucracy and a relentless effort to over-regulate. The WOTUS saga began with Obama-era regulations that created an expansive definition of the Clean Water Act and extended regulatory authority to ditches and gullies in rural America. Farmers recoiled at the paperwork burden and potential federal fines just for moving dirt on their property.
The story didn’t stop there. President Trump came out with new rules that farmers liked, but a judge threw them out.
President Biden proposed a replacement that looked a lot like the original WOTUS. Then the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, ruled that wetlands must have a “continuous surface connection” to be subject to federal regulation.
The courts ordered the EPA to provide a clear and easy-to-understand definition of WOTUS, but now the federal bureaucracy is subverting the ruling and creating an Orwellian landscape where farmers face a hefty fine for violating regulations that remain hidden in a black box.
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, laments the Biden-Harris Administration’s failure to turn over complete guidance documents that explain how WOTUS will be enforced.
“The federal government isn’t telling farmers, families and landowners what the rules are, but if the EPA catches you breaking one of these secret rules, they can throw you in jail or fine you,” Graves wrote in a note to his constituents.
If you’ve wondered why there’s so much hostility toward the administrative state, WOTUS is Exhibit A. Or maybe Exhibit B or C. Federal regulations cost $1.9 trillion a year.
It will be interesting to see if the U.S. Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling, which overturned a 40-year legal doctrine that deferred to regulatory authorities in the interpretation of federal rules, leads to a rebalancing that stops the over-reach.
Until then, there might be a few sequels left in the WOTUS horror show.
A bipartisan level of frustration
In a polarized political landscape, one issue unites left and right, urban and rural.
Frustration with the U.S. Postal Service.
Americans of all political stripes can share horror stories of mail that arrives late or gets routed incorrectly. For elderly Americans, poor mail services are about more than waiting on a catalog. It means intolerable delays for bills, prescription medicine and absentee ballots.
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, blames failures with the USPS central processing facilities. He wants to see USPS management enact changes recommended in an audit of the Kansas City Processing and Delivery Center.
Those audit results are back, but it comes as no surprise that change is moving at a snail’s pace. That’s unfortunate because this year’s election will only highlight USPS inadequacies and add to the urgency. This is one area where Congress should find common ground and move quickly to find a solution.
