Miller-Meeks says uncertainty over federal water regulations impacts economy

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says it’s unclear what interim regulations will be enforced as the Biden Administration drafts new Clean Water Act rules. Miller-Meeks, a Republican, favors keeping Trump Administration rules which eliminated federal oversight on about half of the streams and wetlands subject to Obama era regulations.

“We’re in a position where there’s tremendous uncertainty and there is not a segment of the economy or an individual who it does not impact,” Miller-Meeks says. “and if we want to continue in Iowa to have family farms and small farms and stay away from corporate farming, you know one of the ways to do that is to make concrete regulation so that farmers know what they’re able to do.” Last week Miller-Meeks toured a farm and other facilities where she says Clean Water Act regulations have been burdensome.

“For the hydroelectric dam at Lake Red Rock, it took nine years for the permitting process,” Miller-Meeks says. “…We’re not against regulation. We’re against regulation that doesn’t have a purpose and it doesn’t serve to keep us safe or provide quality or help to promote our economy.” The 400-million dollar hydropower project on the Red Rock Dam was completed a year ago. It could take up to three years for the E-P-A to develop and implement new national water use rules and lawsuits are challenging the rules implemented during the final year of the Trump Administration.

Environmental groups say the Trump Administration’s rewrite of water regulations has allowed developers to build in sensitive wetland areas. Critics of large-scale agriculture say fertilizer run-off is endangering water quality and federal action is needed.