Our Land and Water in Jeopardy – Part I
Are you aware that the EPA has organized our country into water regions? Click here to see the map. Regionalism has taken place all over the country and is destroying our representative form of government. U.N. Agenda 21 / Sustainable Development is the power behind Regionalism that will affect literally every part of our lives and contradicts our constitutional form of government because it abolishes our rights as individuals and our right to private property as it limits human activity and restructures all of our communities to be “sustainable”. It abolishes county lines and will affect water, land ownership, farming, transportation, and almost everything else you can think of. As voters, we elect local officials to govern us locally (mayors, officials, JPs, commissioners), but regional authorities are appointed and are unelected and are mostly unaccountable. These regional authorities are at work in many federal agencies doing dastardly deeds.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (all under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Interior) seem to be trying to take jurisdiction over vast areas of the United States and trying to circumvent the “Navigable” requirement in the Clean Water Act via a proposed rule change to the definition of “waters of the United States”. These new guidance regulations could expand federal jurisdiction over all waters of the U.S. and all activities affecting all waters of the U.S, giving the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers more authority to regulate. This could also have a negative impact on private property owners, farmers, ranchers, recreation, roads, logging, and many other things.
It is the opinion of Secure Arkansas that Congress needs to stop the EPA from moving forward on expanding the Clean Water Act. EPA claims that it will protect farmers from this new rule, but it’s also the opinion of Secure Arkansas that it will put them in further jeopardy and new farms won’t be protected. Control the land; control the water; control the people.
Regarding the Proposed Rule, we’re currently in the 90-day public comment window – which will end on July 21, 2014. You may submit your comments to the EPA using one of four methods. See page 2 of the Proposed Rule document for information.
So, how is this attempted land and water grab being implemented? A more detailed sinister plan called “nonpoint source pollution” (NPS) management is headed to each and every state. Let’s take a look at a few states to see how this works…
1. In Arkansas, there is an agency called the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC). Who are they? Their website tells us. (We’ve put this in the body of our email so you don’t have to click the link if you’d rather not.)
ANRC manages and protects water and land resources for the health, safety and economic benefit of the State of Arkansas. A nine-member Commission appointed by the Governor provides direction for ANRC. The Governor also appoints the ANRC Executive Director. ANRC is divided into three operating divisions: Conservation Division, Water Management Division and Water Development Division.
So, the governor of Arkansas APPOINTS the nine-member commission as well as the executive director of the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. This means that we, as voters, CANNOT vote these people in… or out!
ANRC has its own Nonpoint Source Pollution Grants Program. Here’s what their site says:
ANRC offers competitive grants, funded through Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act, to support statewide programs and implementation projects on an annual cycle. Special emphasis is given to priority watersheds prioritized by the NPS Management Program Task Force. ANRC provides assistance to eligible entities on preparation of grant applications, including conceptual project design, development of the work plan and budget preparation. ANRC accepts work plans for projects to manage, reduce or abate NPS pollution. Projects are funded for one to three years.
Here’s more information from their website about the 319 Non Point Source Pollution Management Program:
Since 1990, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) has been the lead agency for the Arkansas Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution Management Program (website here). ANRC has oversight over the NPS Grant Program, and funds 319 projects related to nonpoint source pollution management.
To guide, coordinate and implement plans and programs to reduce, manage or abate NPS pollution, the NPS Management Program Plan is created and reviewed by stakeholders at and after the Annual Task Force Meetings.
Nonpoint Source Pollution is defined as rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and even our underground sources of drinking water.
Potential sources of NPS Pollution include:
- Excess fertilizers and chemicals from agricultural lands, residential, and urban areas
- Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks
- Bacteria and nutrients from livestock and animal wastes
- hydro-modification
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission is responsible for developing and implementing the State’s Non-point Source (NPS) Pollution Management Program. This program is a cooperative effort of many local, state and federal agencies.
Each year the NPS Management Section receives Federal monies from EPA to fund projects associated with the abatement / reduction or control of NPS pollutants. Projects may include implementation of BMPs, demonstrations of effective techniques, technical assistance, education and monitoring. The NPS program uses the Federal 319 Guidance and their NPS Program Management Plan as part of the criteria for selecting grant recipients. Recipients must provide a minimum of 43% non-federal match (in-kind or cash). Recipients eligible for funding must be non-profit (documented and recognized), State/local government agencies or academic institutions. Federal agencies are ineligible for NPS grant awards.
Funds are targeted to priority watersheds. The priority watersheds were designated by the use of a risk assessment matrix process and the Nonpoint Task Force . The current priority watersheds for 2011-2016 are as follows:
- Illinois River
- Upper White River
- Lake Conway – Point Remove
- Bayou Bartholomew
- L’Anguille River
- Upper Saline
- Poteau River
- Lower Ouachita – Smackover
- Strawberry River
- Cache River
2. Missouri is now in the midst of their public comment period for the Proposed Rule change to the Clean Water Act, and Missouri residents may submit comments to the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) through July 8, 2014. Click here to read the Nonpoint Source Management Plan. This is a MUST READ so you can understand how your water and land are in jeopardy.
Comments should be submitted to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Water Protection Program, Watershed Protection Section, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176 or by email to greg.anderson@dnr.mo.gov . Emails should provide contact information of the sender (i.e, name, mailing address, & phone number) and include “Nonpoint Source Management Plan” in the subject line.
U.S. Representative Sam Graves of Missouri wrote to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy and urged them to withdraw the recently Proposed Rule regarding Waters of the United States, explaining that thousands of streams, ditches and other small waters would be subject to federal permitting and other requirements. “We are concerned that the proposed rule could have a significant economic impact on small businesses, yet the agencies have not assessed those consequences as required by [the law],” Graves wrote in the letter.
Rep. Graves alerted small businesses to the Proposed Rule on April 23, noting his concerns in the letter regarding the application of the new rule to numerous ranches, farms, and small businesses. He states that “the proposed definition includes a number of imprecise and broadly-defined terms such as ‘adjacent,’ ‘riparian area’ and ‘floodplain’ that do not clearly delineate which waters are covered. For the first time, ‘tributary’ is defined and includes bodies of water such as manmade and natural ditches.”
Lastly, unless we get involved locally, our state and local officials could lose their ability to make decisions regarding this issue on the local level.
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