My Continued Fight Against EPA Overreach

By Congressman Mike Simpson

Washington, D.C. – “As American families work to recover from the economic challenges they’ve faced over the past few years, the federal government should make it easier for them to succeed, not harder.  Unfortunately, instead of giving families and businesses the flexibility they need to creatively meet these challenges, the Biden Administration is trying to force political change through regulations.  Nowhere is this truer than with the regulations being churned out by President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  I am fighting against the EPA’s efforts to regulate certain industries out of existence and working to beat back a costly political agenda that harms Idaho farmers, energy developers, and families, all of whom bear the brunt of overregulation. 

“In light of the EPA’s regulatory efforts to commandeer America’s transportation sector, I have recently taken several actions to try and instill common sense into our nation’s environmental policies.  I joined 150 of my colleagues in registering my concern about proposed vehicle emission rules that would all but force families to buy electric cars, pointing out that Americans should be able to choose the vehicle that best meets their budgets and the transportation needs of their families.  I also expressed my opposition to proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program that would counterproductively disrupt the growing market for valuable renewable natural gas.  And, I have cosponsored legislation to ensure that the EPA cannot allow states like California to impose their own regulations on the sale of gas-powered vehicles onto other states.

“Idaho families don’t want the federal government telling them what cars to buy, and they don’t need the EPA dictating decisions in other areas of their lives either.  This was made abundantly clear as the Supreme Court recently unanimously sided with the Sacketts, an Idaho couple who wanted to build a home on their own property, against the EPA’s efforts to declare their property wetlands under the Clean Water Act. 

“Several months ago, the EPA repealed the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, a rule I helped write that provided needed clarity over which waters the federal government may regulate under the Clean Water Act.  The Navigable Waters Protection Rule actually worked for rural America, but the Biden Administration’s EPA sought instead to replace it with a new Clean Water Act rule that greatly expanded the federal government’s reach.  At the time, I warned the EPA that the pending decision in the Sackett case would likely send them back to the drawing board, and I’ve been proven right.  The EPA simply cannot continue in its attempts to regulate every puddle, ditch, and stream in this country.  The Sackett decision is a victory for Idaho and for all those who are tired of being left to deal with the very real consequences of the EPA’s appetite for regulation.

“As Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the budget of the EPA, I am working to bring some common sense to our nation’s environmental policies.  As I do, the EPA is giving me plenty of opportunities to shine some light on how it has been spending the dramatic increases in funding that it has received in recent years.  Over the last two years, the EPA received an additional $100 billion—ten times its annual budget—in supplemental funding, and this year President Biden wants to give the EPA its highest budget increase in agency history.  This is a non-starter for me.  The last time I served as Chairman of this subcommittee, I cut the EPA’s then-bloated budget by 18 percent, and I will do what it takes now to bring this situation under control.  In hearings and budget negotiations I continue to closely examine whether the regulations and actions coming out of the EPA are appropriate, given the agency’s congressional authority.

“Congress never intended for the EPA to have the kind of unchecked power for which the agency seems to be grasping.  Instead of bringing our country together behind an achievable common goal, the EPA’s proposed regulations are creating confusion for state and local governments and piling unnecessary and burdensome costs on American businesses and families. Until the EPA works for the people and not for a political agenda, I will continue to fight back.”

###