THE FUTURE OF WOTUS: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF STATES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 29, 2017 Serial No. 115–39 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 27–678PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas DANA ROHRABACHER, California ZOE LOFGREN, California MO BROOKS, Alabama DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon BILL POSEY, Florida AMI BERA, California THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma MARC A. VEASEY, Texas RANDY K. WEBER, Texas DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia STEPHEN KNIGHT, California JACKY ROSEN, Nevada BRIAN BABIN, Texas JERRY MCNERNEY, California BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia PAUL TONKO, New York RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana BILL FOSTER, Illinois DRAIN LAHOOD, Illinois MARK TAKANO, California DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii JIM BANKS, Indiana CHARLIE CRIST, Florida ANDY BIGGS, Arizona ROGER W. MARSHALL, Kansas NEAL P. DUNN, Florida CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT HON. ANDY BIGGS, Arizona, Chair DANA ROHRABACHER, California SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon, Ranking BILL POSEY, Florida Member MO BROOKS, Alabama COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii RANDY K. WEBER, Texas CHARLIE CRIST, Florida BRIAN BABIN, Texas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia JIM BANKS, Indiana CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas (II) C O N T E N T S November 29, 2017 Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Andy Biggs, Chairman, Subcommittee on Envi- ronment, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................................................................................... 4 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 5 Statement by Representative Suzanne Bonamic, Ranking Member, Sub- committee on Environment, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................................ 7 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 9 Witnesses: Mr. Wesley Mehl, Deputy Commissioner, Arizona State Land Department Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 11 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 14 Mr. James K. Chilton Jr., Rancher, Chilton Ranch Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 30 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 32 Mr. Ken Kopocis, Adjunct Associate Professor, American University Wash- ington College of Law Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 41 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 43 Mr. Reed Hopper, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 56 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 58 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 77 Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Mr. Ken Kopocis, Adjunct Associate Professor, American University Wash- ington College of Law .......................................................................................... 100 Appendix II: Additional Material for the Record Statement submitted by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................................................................................... 104 Documents submitted by Representative Colleen Hanabusa, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 106 Letter submitted by Representative Mark Takano, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................... 120 Documents submitted by Representative Paul Tonko, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................... 123 (III) IV Page Letter submitted by Representative Andy Biggs, Chairman, Subcommittee on Environment, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ................................................................................................ 148 Documents submitted by Representative Suzanne Bonamic, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Environment, Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................................... 151 THE FUTURE OF WOTUS: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF STATES Wednesday, November 29, 2017 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY, Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:22 a.m., in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Andy Biggs [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. (1) 2 tAMAR S. SMITH, Texas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Tuas CHAIRMAN RANKING MEMBER ~ogress of the tinttcd ~tatcs '!louse of 'Rcprcscntntiocs COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY 2321 RAYBURN HOUSE 0FRCE BUILDING WASHINGTON 1 0C 20515-6301 (202) 225-6.371 VNIW.~i&n.::e.hcusl!.gov Subcommittee on Environment The Future of WOTUS: Examining the Role ofStates Wednesday, November 29,2017 10:15 a.m. 2318 Rayburn House Office Builiing Wesley Mehl, Deputy Commissioner, Arizona Land Depmtment James K. Chilton Jr., Rancher, Chilton Ranch Ken Kopocis, Adjunct Associate Professor, American University Washington College of Law Reed Hopper, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation 3 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HEARING CHARTER Wednesday, November 29, 2017 TO: Members, Subcommittee on Environment FROM: Majority Staff, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology SUBJECT: Subcommittee Hearing: 'The Future ofWOTUS: Examining the Role of States" The Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing 1tle Future of WOTUS: Examining the Role ofStates on Wednesday, November 29, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Hearing Purpose: The purpose of this hearing is to survey the current status of federal water regulations and their impact at the state level. This hearing will also examine options to improve federal water rules moving forward. Witness List Mr. Wesley Mehl, Deputy Commissioner, Arizona State Land Depmiment • Mr. James K. Chilton Jr., Rancher, Chilton Ranch Mr. Ken Kopocis, Adjunct Associate Professor, American University Washington College of Law • Mr. Reed Hopper, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation Staff Contact For questions related to the hearing, please contact Majority Staff at 202-225-6371. 4 Chairman BIGGS. Good morning. The Subcommittee on Environ- ment will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare recesses of the Subcommittee at any time. Welcome to today’s hearing entitled ‘‘The Future of WOTUS: Ex- amining the Role of States.’’ And I thank all of our witnesses who are here. We’re glad to have all of you here and Members of the Committee. I recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. Welcome to today’s hearing, ‘‘The Future of WOTUS: Examining the Role of States.’’ I thank our expert panel of witnesses for being here today and agreeing to testify about this important topic. The Waters of the United States rule, or WOTUS, issued by the EPA in 2015, amounted to one of the biggest federal overreaches in modern history. Not only did the rule’s flimsy definitions and underlying science mean that the Agency had the ability to regu- late private land, but it also placed significant financial burdens on some of our country’s hardest workers. I am very pleased to have representatives here today from my home State of Arizona to discuss how this rule would affect them and what changes they believe would make water regulations bet- ter for this country. We all want to be good stewards of the environment. We also want to be good stewards for the people we are here in Washington to represent. When a federal agency overlooks the needs of Amer- ican citizens, we in Congress have a duty to ask questions and ad- dress the concerns of our constituents. For example, when WOTUS was proposed, there was a large outcry from stakeholders across the Nation that the rule’s vague definitions regarding navigable water could include sometimes