Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, delivered testimony before North Dakota’s Legislative Assembly Interim Water Drainage Committee. His remarks focused on North Dakota’s battles with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rules, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) enforcement of Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) easements.
The senator began by discussing states’ rights in light of WOTUS and WPA.
“Some of the threats we face are personified in our battles associated with the Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, and the Fish and Wildlife Service’Waterfowl Production Area Easements. Both were enabled by separate acts of Congress – in an age where States’ rights and cooperative federalism were bipartisan concepts. But, both have been distorted for a similar purpose: a pathway for Washington to assert its control over North Dakota and its citizens with little to no regard for the state’s primacy or property rights,” said Senator Cramer.
“Our producers feed and fuel the world. There is no reason why they should be stuck waiting on a bureaucrat’s decision for a permit to work their own land while they could be filling the ever-increasing demand of a growing world market. It is especially true when you consider the short construction seasons and windows of time associated with successfully growing crops,” continued the senator.
“At the heart of the dispute over what constitutes a WOTUS, is what a ‘navigable water’ is. Only Washington can get confused by what should be common sense. I have a simple rule, if I can’t take my pontoon out on it, it’s not navigable,” said Senator Cramer. “As the Biden Administration pursues a ‘durable’ definition of what constitutes a WOTUS, we can only hope they will heed the good judgement exhibited by President Trump’s EPA when they published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which clearly identified where federal regulations applied, while recognizing the role of state and local authorities to best manage their waters.”
Senator Cramer closed by applauding North Dakota’s Attorney General Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Goehring, urging the committee to support them with the necessary resources. He also expressed praise for the constitutionally sound work of North Dakota District Judges Welte and Traynor.
“After two Presidents, multiple Cabinet Secretaries and other Administration officials, I feel the judicial system will be the ultimate means for redress,” said Senator Cramer. “The best thing you can do at the state level is to make sure Attorney General Stenehjem and Commissioner Goehring have the resources necessary to stand up for our state’s sovereignty. We must take advantage of having constitutionally sound judges like Judge Welte and Judge Traynor as well. Although I can’t guarantee an outcome in either judge’s courtroom, we cannot take constitutional conservatives who respect the rule of law and state and private property rights for granted.”