Articles

Clean Water Act point-counterpoint

March 01, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Today's New York Times has this article contending that, at least from the US Environmental Protection Agency's perspective, that agency's ability to enforce the Clean Water Act and prevent the Nation's waters from becoming polluted has been seriously constrained by recent federal court rulings. The a ...

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"American Wetland Month"

May 17, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper May is national wetland month in the U.S.  So, how are we doing?  In the 70's the loss of wetlands nationwide was highly publicized.  But what about today?  Are we gaining or losing wetlands?  According to the White House … well, check it out for yourself.  The answer may surprise yo ...

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PLF weighs in on Clean Water Act legislation

June 14, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: M. Reed Hopper The San Diego Union-Tribune recently carried an op-ed by PLF Senior advisor Bob Vice entitled No Federal Water Micromanagement that spotlights the nature of heavy-handed federal regulation under proposed legislation to amend the Clean Water Act.  Here is the lead in: "Keeping America’s ...

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The case of Clean Water Act legislation and ever-expanding government

June 28, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: M. Reed Hopper One of the most insidious pieces of legislation ever introduced in Congress is the so-called Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007, H.R.2421. That bill, authored by Representative James Oberstar (D), purported to restore the “original intent” of Congress to subject “all” waters in the United States to f ...

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More Clean Water Act slight of hand

July 22, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Reed Hopper In a recent "Dear Colleague" letter, Representative Oberstar claims his new bill, "America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act" (H.R.5088), would "restore, but not expand, the geographic scope of the Clean Water Act" that existed prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in SWANCC a ...

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Farmers dodge a bullet!

September 29, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper For decades, the Corps of Engineers has exempted from federal regulation so called prior converted croplands.  These are wetlands that have been put to agricultural use prior to 1986.  In 1993, the Corps issued a formal rulemaking that stated these wetlands would continue to be exempt from federal regulation unless t ...

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"Legal Watchdog" gets action

October 04, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper Builder magazine reports: Last week’s announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—that it would consider reclassifying the wood stork, a wading bird often found in South Florida’s Everglades, as "threatened" from its current "endangered" status—is the culmination of nearly five years of ...

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Makes you wonder!

November 10, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the federal government did not have authority to regulate "isolated" water bodies, like ponds, puddles and mudflats that have no connection to navigable waters.  To find otherwise, the court noted, would violate the intent of Congress, the clear language of the Clean Water ...

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Wetlands paradigm shift

November 15, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper The constant drum beat in the media and among environmental activists is that the Clean Water Act is our best and only hope to save the Nation's wetlands from destruction.  Therefore, the Act must be “strengthened” to provide more federal command and control over private property.  But as with m ...