It only took Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan 5 weeks to go back on his word about leaving things with the Navigable Waters Act be and not try and return to the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS). Earlier this month, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers said that they would look at reintegrating the controversial water regulations, but without making previous mistakes. However, nobody in Ag seems to know what that is supposed to mean. It is making for some shaky relations between Ag and President Biden, early in his term. Congressional Representatives have already been weighing in.
Iowa Representative Ashley Hinson (R-1st) talked about her concerns with a return to WOTUS. She is concerned that people that have no understanding about Iowa agriculture are trying to regulate those things which they do not fully understand. Hinson says she and Congresswoman Miller-Meeks (R-IA 2nd) have already taken action in the House.
Hinson says the map of the WOTUS control is so broad, that it is harder to see the areas of Iowa that would not be under the control of the Federal Government as opposed to those that would.
While EPA Administrator Regan said that mistakes were made the first time around under the Obama Administration, Hinson says there has been no clarification as to what that means. She has talked with Ag groups who hope that it means the EPA will engage with them to hear their concerns and why they feel it should not change. However, Hinson said she is ready to work with Ag organizations, Congresswoman Miller-Meeks, and Congressman Randy Feenstra (R-IA 4th) to combat what she calls an ?attack by the Biden Administration.?
Hinson says that Iowa farmers are great stewards of the land, as they work to maintain the quality of their water and lands for the next generation. She says that is the narrative D.C. needs to hear about. She said farmers need more support in areas like precision technology which allows them to be more accurate with their farming practices and the rural broadband needed to make those tools possible. She cited her Precise Act, which is aimed at helping farmers farm better in the 21st century, and make all the resources of precision ag and broadband available.
