FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Paul Lopez
202-266-8409
plopez@nahb.org
www.nahb.org

Statement from NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly on House Passage of H.R. 5078

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 – Kevin Kelly, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del., today issued the following statement on House passage of H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act:

“NAHB commends the House for passing bipartisan legislation championed by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) that would prevent federal overreach by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would harm individual landowners and home buyers and impact economic growth.

“H.R. 5078 prohibits the EPA and Corps from finalizing a proposed rule that would dramatically increase their authority over ‘waters of the U.S.’ to include almost any body of water, such as ditches, mudflats, prairie potholes and other water features.

“Allowing these agencies to radically increase their jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act would impede the fledgling housing recovery by greatly increasing the number of construction sites required to obtain permits, which would also delay and raise the cost of home building projects. Moreover, many American families would be priced out of the housing market if this rule is finalized in its current form.

“Today’s House vote sends a strong message to the EPA to go back to the drawing board to find a common-sense middle ground plan that will maintain environmental safeguards and protect landowners from unnecessary regulation.”

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ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB’s builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for this year.

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