Spencer, IA: (Jun 07, 2012) - Testimony before a House subcommittee on Wednesday probably didn’t come out quite as Republican lawmakers expected.
 
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power was scrutinizing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the perceived expansion of environmental regulations by the Obama administration.
 
But – a law professor testifying before the subcommittee said it is a misperception that EPA has expanded its reach under the current administration.
 
Agriculture groups have expressed concern that the current EPA leadership has expanded agency authority on more U.S. farms through the Clean Water Act and other regulations.
 
But law Professor Joel A. Mintz, who has studied and written extensively on EPA enforcement, told the subcommittee that the Obama EPA has been quite ordinary.
 
Mintz said “………for the past three and a half years, EPA’s approach to enforcement has employed the same overall philosophy and strategy that have characterized EPA enforcement since the early 1970’s.”
 
Mintz added that agency enforcement has been based on a “theory of deterrence” since its founding in the Nixon administration.