The Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers released a draft proposal aimed to strengthen the protection for clean water. The draft proposal released back in March states the goal of the proposed rule is to clarify the Clean Water Act of 1972 and benefit agriculture.
However, many farmers and groups are skeptical about the proposed rule. The rule would expand federal authority over “waters of the United States.”
The EPA defines that “waters of the United States” include: all waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, interstate wetlands and water and territorial seas.
Groups that oppose the new rule are concerned about getting a permit and the regulation. The National Farmers Union is currently working with the EPA in regards to the new rule. The union hopes that its efforts will lead to legislation without interfering with family agriculture.
The NFU Government Relations Representative Tom Driscoll said, “We have given the agency feedback on how to alleviate the needs for permits. I think that the NFU believes that if their comments and inputs are given proper consideration, that this could establish more clarity for family agriculture.”
Karl Brooks, the administrator for the U.S. EPA Region 7, which includes Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, stated in an opinion editorial in the Columbia Tribune that the EPA is trying to enforce clean water practices “without getting in the way of farming and ranching.”
“Science shows us what kinds of streams and wetlands affect water downstream—so our proposal says these waters should be protected,” said Brooks in the opinion editorial.
The EPA stated that this proposed rule will not regulate groundwater or tile drainage systems.
