EPA and Army Corp of Engineers

I was reading up on the EPA's website regarding the Supreme Courts ruling that the Army Corp of Engineers now has jurisdiction over any body of water, yet the EPA claims that it will not impact farmers in any way. To say I was skeptical would be a gross understatement and so this is how this new ruling has changed in the few scant months it has been in place.

 

Well just below my house is a wet area where there is a small bridge, maybe 6 feet wide with the brook not even navigable by canoe. The town was going to dig up the sinking approaches and put in new gravel because as you hit the bridge, it practically sends the car air born. The town could not do that though because to dig up the wetland would require Army Corp of Engineer permits that would take 2 YEARS TO GET. The town's road money does not work that way; we allocate money on a year by year basis.

 

Then yesterday, I had the USDA State Soil Engineer come out to make a wetland determination for some new farmland I am making out of forest. That is no big deal, but he told me now if one bulldozed stump rolls into the wetland area, I can be fined not only by Maine Dept of Environmental Protection, The EPA...but now the Army Corp of Engineers as well. Here is the kicker though. I live on such a hill I can see 150 miles away. Its so high the area I am clearing splits two watersheds; we are not even talking a trickle of water here, it's just wet, but the Army Corp of Engineers now has authority here...really?

 

Now here is the double kicker, we all know the constitution of the USA; look at how much power our founding fathers gave the Supreme Court to make these rulings...1 single paragraph. The point is, they wanted the majority of the power to go to ELECTED officials so that we could rein them in. Now everything is decided by the Supreme Court...such as clarification on the Clean Waters Act and they are far removed from reality.

 

(Here is a photo of the "wetland" the Army Corp of Engineers now has jurisdiction over. I apologize for the Little Red Riding Hood and Logger theme as my wife and I do themed photo shoots for fun, but this was the only photo I had of this area of our land. Believe it or not I just don't start taking pictures of wet areas of our woodlot for no reason. But I really wanted you guys to see how unwet this area is considering who has to get involved now.)

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EPA and Army Corp of Engineers