Cramer Concerned After Corps Memos Question EPA's Implementation of WOTUS

Press Release

Congressman Kevin Cramer expressed serious concerns after Congressional oversight uncovered internal memos from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showing its opposition to the EPA's implementation of the "Waters of the United States" or WOTUS Rule.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, exposed the Corps concerns outlined in memos it wrote to the EPA. He sent a letter to Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, earlier this week requesting confirmation of factual statements made in internal Army Corps of Engineer documents provided to the committee disputed by the Corps' memo.

"The information uncovered by Senator Inhofe demonstrates the EPA ignored its own technical experts while drafting the final WOTUS Rule. After reading the information uncovered by the U.S. Senate, I can see why some people believe the EPA lied to Congress and the American people, " said Cramer. "Clearly, the EPA's decision is not driven by sound science but rather by politics. The Obama administration continues to cow tow to extreme environmentalists at the expense of local property owners and state and local governments across the United States."

An article first published by Politico reported on the memos showing the concerns by Corps staff to Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works. The Corps staff argued the economic analysis and technical support document prepared by the EPA for the rule "are flawed in multiple respects," including applying Corps data out of context and mixing terminology and data. "In the Corps' judgement, the documents contain numerous inappropriate assumptions with no connection to the data provided, misapplied data, analytical deficiencies and logical inconsistencies," the memo said.

From its beginning Cramer has called WOTUS an unconstitutional power grab. "It tramples on the rights of private citizens as well as state and local governments. A majority in the US House as well as thousands of landowners, businesses and agriculture producers and now the US Army Corps of Engineers are concerned by the actions of the EPA," said Cramer.

"North Dakota farmers and ranchers care deeply about their land," said Cramer. "These are the people who feed the world, and the federal government should be doing all it can to support them instead of imposing more heavy-handed regulations which keep them from being competitive or profitable."

Cramer said individual states, including North Dakota, have effectively enforced water quality standards. "It should be the states which regulate these standards along with grassroots conservation programs."

The questions raised by the Corps are not the only concerns to surface about the EPA's actions. The New York Times published an investigative report on May 18, 2015 exposing the EPA's efforts to solicit positive comments for the proposed rule. The article highlighted how the activities of the EPA may have violated federal lobbying laws. A number of Congressional committees are investigating these activities and Congressman Cramer is working with his colleagues to urge the EPA's Inspector General to formally investigate the agency's lobbying efforts.

In 2014, the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) stated the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers improperly certified the proposed Waters of the U.S. rule under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). "The RFA requires federal agencies to consider the impact proposed rules will have on small businesses," said Cramer. "If such impacts are determined to be significant, agencies must take the impact into account and study less burdensome alternatives."

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