Posted June 10, 2014
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to broaden its authority over ”navigable waters” to “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act is in its public comment period, according to an article on Capital Press by Carol Ryan Dumas available here. Hoosier Ag Today also published an article available here, AgWeek here, and The Hill Blog here.
The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers argue the proposal “clarifies” protection for streams and wetlands, but does not protect any “new types of waters” that have not been covered historically.
On Monday, however, the House proposed a $34 million spending bill which would prohibit the Army Corps from using any funds to “develop, implement, administer or enforce any change to the … definition of waters under the jurisdiction of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,” according to The Hill Blog.
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said the EPA’s proposed rule is stretching federal authority and should be withdrawn and reconsidered, according to AgWeek.
“EPA says it is clarifying definitions, but in fact it is widening its jurisdiction with broad language that challenges the concept of state primacy in the protection of public water,” said Goehring.
Goehring added the rule would give the EPA authority over any surface water, including wetlands, dry ditches, seasonal streams and ponds, snowmelt, washes, flood plains, riparian areas.
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Senior Director, Don Parish, says that ninety-nine percent of all U.S. ditches are going to be regulated, including features that flow into ditches such as storm water, according to Capital Press.
Goehring said the vagueness and generality creates a confusing and unpredictable situation for farmers, and that implementing the rule could result in requiring federal permits for farmers to perform common farm activities, including weed control and pesticide application, according to AgWeek.
“Agricultural practices will be tied to mandatory compliance with what used to be voluntary standards established by the Natural Resource Conservation Service,” said Goehring.
The EPA stated that most agriculture activities would not require a permit, according to The Hill Blog.
“Any agriculture activity that does not result in the discharge of a pollutant to waters of the U.S. still does not require a permit,” the agency told farmers.
The EPA is considering pushing back the 2015 timetable for making the final decision, according to Hoosier Ag Today.
For more information or to comment on the issue, the Federal Register is available here.
For more information on the Clean Water Act, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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