Looked like there was high, passionate, bi-partisan support against the rule changes in a congressional hearing yesterday with one politician calling it the largest land grab of private property in US history.
Even non-pond owning people SHOULD worry...the theory is that by defining a "significant nexus from similar situations" (ie, subdivision, or even rural asphalt shingled roofs, combined, could be deemed to leach oil into the navigable waterways) and fall under EPA jurisdiction. The possible scenarios are almost endless....another very scary rule is that the EPA is given sole, final say on "exempted" waters the CWA can not legally apply to, such as pre-existing crop land. The Crop land could be in use for 100's of years and the EPA can arbitrarily say it was "new", by simple a simple field inspection order, and the land owner will have no route to appeal, unless the EPA sues them in a court for unpaid fines....
