Posted January 20, 2014
Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, told the
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) that the leaked EPA draft rule does not
necessarily reflect the position of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), according to an article by Bloomberg BNA available here.
Vilsack said, “We have been assured by the EPA that the
draft rule that was leaked, that was unfortunately leaked, does not necessarily
reflect the position of the EPA,” echoing the administration’s statement in November
by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy before a House Science, Space and Technology
Committee hearing.
“We need to wait and see what comes out of EPA,” said
Vilsack.
The day before, AFBF President Bob Stallman warned the
Obama Administration that the nation’s farmers and ranchers are prepared to
“battle” EPA over its regulatory reach under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Stallman said, EPA’s draft rule is proposing
to extend CWA authority to “nearly every body of water in the country, whether
it is navigable or not.”
On September 17, 2013, the EPA and the Army Corps of
Engineers submitted the draft rule to the Office of Management and Budget for
interagency review. The rule is due in proposed form this year and aims to clarify the
definition of “waters of the United States” subject protection under the Clean
Water Act. Additional information on the
draft rule is available here.
The proposed rule will be based on a study, recently
released by the EPA, on the connectivity of smaller streams and wetlands to
larger, downstream waters, according to a Bloomberg BNA article available here. The study is available here.
The “rule would not propose changes to existing
permitting exemptions and exclusions, including those that apply to the
agricultural sector” according to Nancy Stoner, EPA acting assistant for water
and Lek Kadeli, EPA acting assistant administrator for research and
development. The rule would exempt
agricultural stormwater runoff, normal silvicultural activities, and irrigation
ditches, among other waters from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permitting requirements under Section 402 of the Clean Water
Act. In addition waste treatment ponds
and wetlands filled prior to December 1985 for use as cropland would remain
exempt.
The proposed rule would, instead, “clarify that
artificial ornamental ponds, artificially irrigated areas, areas artificially
flooded for rice growing, pits excavated for land fill, and others would be
excluded” from CWA jurisdiction.
For more information on the Clean Water Act, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here. Recent information on EPA’s regulation under
the CWA is available here.
