Ernst disputes merits of federal water act

GREGORY OREAR
Publisher/Editor
Wherever you may be sitting, or standing in Iowa, there is a 97 percent chance you are in a space designated a Water of the United States, according to new Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
While launching her annual 99-county tour in Red Oak Thursday, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) called the expanded definition of WOTUS (Waters of the United States) “incredibly confusing.”
“I don’t even know what is WOTUS,” she said while addressing a crowd of about 50 people in the Montgomery County courthouse. “There are standing puddles that are considered WOTUS. There is dry land that once was under water that is considered WOTUS. In fact, 97 percent of all land in Iowa is considered WOTUS.”
Ernst said as she understands it, any land that once was underwater, no longer how long ago, or is within an undetermined proximity to a body of water, be it a creek, river, lake or pond, qualifies it as WOTUS.
What’s most troubling though for landowners though is the federal requirements associated with new construction of any type on land designated WOTUS.
“Basically, all new construction will require additional federal permits, which will have to come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Ernst said.
Ernst said new construction is essentially anything that disturbs the dirt, including homes, roads, terraces, ditches, and even something as simple as fencing.
She said she has co-sponsored a resolution of disapproval that has passed through the Senate with bi-partisan support reversing the EPA’s definition. Should it pass through the House of Representatives in the upcoming session, it would require President Barack Obama’s signature, although he has indicated he will veto it.
“He (Obama) will have to make a decision to support Americans … or support additional beauracacy, which is what I think this is,” she said.
Ernst, the former Montgomery County Auditor and Iowa Senator who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2014, discussed other highlights of her first year in the nation’s capital, including sponsoring a bill that would increase military veteran’s access to mental health services.
“There are studies that show we have 22 veterans commit suicide every day,” said Ernst, a retired Lt. Colonel with the Iowa National Guard. “That’s a lot. That should not be happening.”
Ernst said a big part of the problem is on average, there is a 36 day wait for veterans who seek mental help.
“Veterans are taught to take care of themselves,” she said. “So when they reach out for help, they need to be seen immediately.”
Under the bill she sponsored, veterans who are unable to receive immediate help can then go to a private provider and still be covered.
Ernst also spent a lot of time answering audience questions regarding national security issues, particularly those stemming from the Middle East.
“We’re not safer now than we were 10 years ago … or when I served in Kuwait and that’s a great concern to me and others,” Ernst said. “We have some serious issues going on in the Middle East.”