Opposing testimony was taken at a hearing in Anchorage on a federal proposal to clarify which waters fall under the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction.
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan called the measure a significant expansion of federal jurisdiction in Alaska and conducted a field hearing on the rules in Anchorage on Monday.
He said the proposal would greatly expand the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulated waters.
Sullivan is a sponsor of a Senate bill which aims to limit the water rules.
EPA officials say the rules don’t protect any types of waters not already covered under the Clean Water Act of 1972.
Sullivan states that the EPA is not fully expressing the act’s potential effect.
