In a 2-1 decision the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay against enforcement of the Waters of the U.S. rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE).

The court concluded that the rule has already been stayed in 13 states and that a nationwide stay would help maintain nationwide uniformity while the rule is litigated in court.  Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee called the Sixth Circuits order to suspend “a victory for all states, local governments, farmers, ranchers, and landowners. The EPA and Army Corps admitted in February before Congress that the proposed rule was flawed and ambiguous, yet the agencies continued forward and finalized the rule in May. Instead of fixing the overreach, EPA made it broader.”  Inhofe went on to say that the litigation over the WOTUS rule will likely take several years to conclude.

The WOTUS rule would have significantly impacted agriculture in Sacramento County, with 100% of lands being considered jurisdictional, farmers and ranchers would have been in violation for simple routine farming practices like weed spraying.

While this not over, the stay provides opportunity for the court system to get answers about over reaching authority of EPA and Army Corp of Engineers.

Source: Sacramento Farm Bureau

“Farmers and ranchers need to be aware of the rule’s potential impacts to their farming operations.” – Kari Fisher, California Farm Bureau Federation associate counsel

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‘Waters’ rule takes effect in California

Source: ‘Waters’ rule takes effect in California

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) released documents outlining how EPA’s Waters of the U.S. rule will give the agency sweeping powers to regulate land use despite a body of law clearly prohibiting such overreach. “Our analysis shows yet again how unwise, extreme and unlawful this rule is,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. “Our public affairs specialists and legal team have assembled the best analysis available, and their conclusions are sobering: Despite months of comments and innumerable complaints, the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) proposal is even worse than before.”

The WOTUS rule, first released in draft form in April, 2014, has garnered fierce opposition from farmers, ranchers, and land owners of all kinds. Dozens of states and countless municipalities oppose the measure.

Read the Farm Bureau’s assessment of the new rule here

One of the most concerning aspects of the new rule is the ability of CWA regulators to ignore scientific indicators of jurisdictional waters and instead rely purely on aerial photos, opinions and past conditions.

Source / Link : Farm Bureau Offers Detailed Analysis Of Waters Of The U.S. Rule | Growing Produce

Source / Link: Commentary: Clean Water Act threatens private property rights

The redefinition of “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act will severely impact farming activities making it more difficult farm by creating a broader regulatory scheme, no certainty to farmers and few exemptions.

Credit : California Farm Bureau Federation – http://www.cfbf.com/

Washington, DC – Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) voted for a measure last evening that rolls back the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial “Waters of the United States” regulatory proposal. HR 1732, which passed by a vote of 261-155, prevents the EPA from implementing the rule and directs it to work with stakeholders on a new rule. The EPA has refused to make any significant changes to its proposal, despite receiving approximately a million comments from across the country identifying the negative impacts the rule would have on farms, small businesses, and local governments.

“The EPA and other federal bureaucracies already ignore clear exemptions in order to attack farmers and ranchers, and they now want even more authority? The Waters of the US regulation would expand the federal government’s jurisdiction over vast swathes of Northern California, including gullies which contain water only during rainstorms and wet depressions in fields,” said LaMalfa. “Congress has made it clear that it never intended to provide these powers to the EPA, has demonstrated bipartisan opposition to the proposal, and has acted to defund it. It’s time that the EPA remembers that Congress writes our nation’s laws, not federal bureaucrats.”

LaMalfa referred to the EPA’s existing interpretation of the Clean Water Act, in which it ignores clear, explicit exemptions of agricultural activities in order to penalize farmers for changing crops or replanting fallowed fields. LaMalfa has successfully passed several measures to limit and defund this interpretation, most recently in the Energy & Water Appropriations bill the House passed earlier this month.