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Posted October 24, 2014
U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee have requested that the newly released agriculture rule released in conjunction with the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) proposal be immediately withdrawn, according to a press release available here. Agri-Pulse also published an article available here.
Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Cochran, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Thune (R-S.D.) have written a letterasking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide an “update on implementation of the agriculture Interpretive Rule and requested its immediate withdrawal.”
“We have heard from farmers, ranchers, and other rural constituents about the Interpretive Rule and are deeply concerned it has created great confusion about what agriculture activities are exempt from regulation under the Clean Water Act,” the Senators wrote in a letter.
The senators said that the WOTUS regulations would bring more waters including, streams, creeks, wetlands, ponds, and ditches under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA) subjecting them to EPA permitting requirements. The agriculture Interpretive Rule outlines only 56 activities out of more than 160 conservation practices that previously qualified for the normal farming and ranching exemption, according to Agri-Pulse.
“Beyond adding confusion and uncertainty, the Interpretive Rule would fundamentally change the relationship between the Department of Agriculture and farm families. Over decades of farm policy, USDA has established an unprecedented relationship of trust with farmers, ranchers, and rural stakeholders. This unique relationship is built on voluntary conservation programs and a mutual commitment to protecting natural resources and keeping land in agriculture. Bringing USDA into the Clean Water Act permitting process would profoundly shift the nature of this successful approach by dismantling a longstanding partnership between the Federal government and agriculture community,” the Senators wrote.
Now, the Senators are calling for more “transparency and stakeholder involvement.”
“As the administration continues to extend the timeframe for finalization of the flawed WOTUS proposal, any further discussion of how agricultural activities may fit into this framework must allow for a transparent and public process in which the voice of American agriculture can be heard,” the Senators’ letter concluded.
For more information, a copy of the Senators’ letter 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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