Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency released its revised rules for the Water of the United States (WOTUS). This was in response to the Biden Administration’s reintroduction of the Obama-era rule which drew the ire of farmers and Ag groups for being far too overreaching and confusing. It was recently struck down by the United States Supreme Court after the decision in the Sackett vs. EPA case. The court told the administration to take it back to the drawing board, but the EPA said they only planned to make what they called “surgical adjustments.”
Farmers in Iowa have been watching this revision very carefully because well over 90% of our acres would be affected by this rule. They also wanted clarity in definitions and wanted to limit federal overreach into what was state or county jurisdiction.
After the EPA announced its revisions, many in ag said it didn’t go far enough. However, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says that while it isn’t perfect, it is a big step in the right direction and can open future dialogue with an agency that has been trying to gain more authority by using gray areas in legislation.
Mary-Thomas Hart recently stated that there have been a few changes we can be happy about. This includes the Significant Nexus Test.
While much of the response has been disgruntled at best, Mary-Thomas Hart says we can take heart in the fact that progress has been made, and that will give us many more opportunities for negotiation. Especially as terminology still needs to be defined in the WOTUS rule.
She adds that while they are trying to find the positives in all of this, they are by no means letting them off with a free pass. NCBA will be monitoring the progress and the proposals to these questions and more.
