July 2, 2012

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) today applauded the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee's action directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide municipalities with flexibility in implementing the Long Term 2 Surface Water Treatment (LT2) rule. "The EPA's inflexibility on an arbitrary deadline has stuck the city of Bend and its citizens with a $30 million bill. Forcing the city to raise water rates in a time of double digit unemployment sure won't help us grow jobs. So far, the EPA and the State of Oregon have refused to grant Bend the same flexibility granted to New York City and Portland. If the EPA won't act on its own, the House Appropriations Committee will direct it to provide communities such as Bend with the needed relief," Rep. Walden said.