Monday, February 5, 2024

American Farm Bureau joins other industry groups in urging legislative solution to WOTUS flaws

The American Farm Bureau joined 54 industrial organizations in sending a letter to 11 senators who recently requested guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers on implementation of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule.

"While we agree that EPA and the Corps ‘can and must do better to address the legitimate issues that have been raised in regards to the implementation of this rule,' as your correspondence states, the best way to ensure that EPA and the Corps address the fundamental flaws in the WOTUS rulemaking is by enacting and requiring the agencies comply with S. 1140," said the organizations in their letter.

S. 1140 is the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which the Farm Bureau has formally supported. The legislation would make the EPA and Corps rewrite the WOTUS rule with further consideration of industry groups and the public that would be impacted by it. The senate recently voted against furthering the bill to debate.

"EPA and the Corps have proven unwilling to address the concerns you raise and that we share,” said the letter. “We do not believe that EPA's final rule can be fixed without further legitimate and transparent rulemaking process.”