Iowa League of Cities victory against the EPA

Statement

Senator Chuck Grassley made the comment below about the Iowa League of Cities victory in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2008 and 2009, Senator Grassley forwarded questions to the Environmental Protection Agency for the Iowa cities, including Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Ottumwa, and Waterloo. This week, a three-member panel of the court, in a unanimous decision, said the EPA exceeded its legal authority and didn't follow proper rulemaking.

Senator Grassley's comment:

"The Environmental Protection Agency attempted to impose a new process for handling wastewater on several Iowa cities that would have cost Iowans hundreds of millions of dollars, but which the court has now confirmed were not necessary to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act and current regulations. The court rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's claim that its mandate to the Iowa cities was just an interpretation of existing rules, which is a way for agencies to make an end run around the rulemaking process, a process designed for stakeholder voices to be considered and for the federal bureaucracy to be held as accountable as possible. This decision should send a clear signal to the EPA and other federal agencies that they must act within the law established by Congress and cannot dictate willy-nilly."

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