Goodlatte, Perrow battle EPA

Va. representatives initiate new legislation

Lynchburg representatives have entered a battle against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that could directly impact taxpayers, locally and throughout the commonwealth.

Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-6th), whose district includes Lynchburg, has initiated a legislation plan with Congressman Tim Holden (D-PA) that could counter the EPA’s new proposed program for stormwater treatment. The EPA’s proposal comes by way of an Executive Order, not a bill that must pass through Congress.

“The executive order attempts to give the EPA authority to run roughshod over local communities, farmers and small businesses,” Goodlatte said. “My legislation presents a positive alternative.”

Supporting Goodlatte’s plan is Lynchburg city council member Turner Perrow. Last November, Perrow spoke before a Congressional committee on what he called intrusion by the EPA into local affairs. Perrow finds supporting Goodlatte’s legislation critical to saving local citizens money down the road.

“The state needs to meet the requirements and enforce it at a local level,” Perrow said. “It needs to be the state. Then, the EPA should work with the state for implementation on those plans.”

Perrow fears if the program does come into effect, the monetary cost could become overwhelming.

“For the city of Lynchburg, we’re looking somewhere between $110 to $180 million right now that we would have to spend in the next 20 years,” he said.

According to Goodlatte, his legislation titled “Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act” would provide kinder regulations to states and local communities.

“Instead of overregulation and intrusion into the lives and livelihoods of those who choose to make the Bay Watershed their home, the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act allows states and communities more flexibility in meeting water quality goals so that we can help restore and protect our natural resources,” Goodlatte said.

Although much of the experimentation and data comes from the coastlines, including Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay region, the measures would affect the whole country in time.

Perrow said that another issue lies where the model allows the EPA “to look at the San Francisco Bay Watershed, or the Mississippi River Watershed, and apply it to the whole country.” He believes the more that members of Congress realize the drastic results of the program, the more they would oppose it.

Both Goodlatte and Perrow also remained concerned that if the EPA regulation passes, the results may not measure up to the cost.

“Just because you want to throw more money at (the Bay), does not mean that we are actually going to speed up the improvement of the Bay,” Perrow said.

Goodlatte added: “While the goal of everyone involved is better water quality, we must recognize that we can only do as much as technologically possible.”