President Trump has ordered replacement of the Waters of the United States rule, widely opposed in farm country, and Politico says industry groups allied with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt have an idea who should write the replacement: private lawyers. Such a privatization of the rule-making process “would be almost unheard of” though probably legal.
“It would raise a host of ethical questions while probably limiting the public’s view into decisions about which streams, lakes, and wetlands get federal protection,” says Politico. “Environmentalists call it alarming that anyone would even seriously discuss the possibility.”
EPA has not responded in detail to questions about the idea, Politico says, quoting an EPA press aide as claiming there was no such undertaking at this time. “The idea of turning to private lawyers is taking shape in discussions among members of the Waters Advocacy Coalition, which advocates restraining the scope of federal water regulation on behalf of more than 60 industry groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Mining Association.”