M
y husband, Kevin, and I farm in Northern
Missouri with his parents and brother. We
are the 5th generation of farmers in our family and
we raise hogs, cattle, corn, soybeans and rye. We
are also raising our children on our farm and clean
water is important to us. Regardless of whether
Environmental Protection Agency requires it,
protecting our water is one of our priorities. We
want to pass our farm onto the next generation so
it only makes sense that we care for our natural
resources in a responsible manner.
EPA’s proposed Clean Water Act rule will
significantly affect our family farm. The proposed
rule will expand the scope of “navigable waters”
subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction by regulating
ditches, small and remote “waters” and ephemeral
drains where water moves only when it rains.
Most of these areas look more like land than like
“waters” and they are dry most of the year. This
proposed rule means any ditch on your land will be
regulated by the EPA, even if it only holds water
one day a year. This will prohibit farmers from
using land that is in or near a ditch unless they
have a Clean Water Act permit.
Congress writes the laws of the land, not federal
agencies. When Congress created the Clean Water
Act, it clearly limited federal regulatory power
to “navigable” waters. Congress did not intend to
allow EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to
regulate farmland just because water occasionally
flows across it. EPA should respect the limits set by
Congress.
Some people are saying farmers and ranchers
should have no concerns because we are
“exempted” from the rule but this is not the case.
The “normal farming and ranching” exemption
only applies to a specific type of Clean Water
Act permit for “dredge and fill” materials. There
is also no farm or ranch exemption from Clean
Water Act permit requirements for what the
EPA would call “pollutants,” but I would call
plant nutrients and protection products. This
means under the proposed rule, many common
and important practices like weed control and
fertilizer spreading will be prohibited in or near
so-called “waters” unless you have a Clean Water
Act permit. This further complicates my situation
due to the fact we frequently use recycled
fertilizer from our hog barns.
Another startling fact is the EPA and the Corps
have interpreted the word “normal” to mean only
longstanding operations in place since the 1970s
– not newer or expanded farming and ranching.
Does this mean when we pass our farm onto the
next generation’s hands that they will no longer be
able to farm that land? This rule would appear to
me to be detrimental to new and beginning farmers
– exactly the type of farmer that many of us in
agriculture have been working hard to support.
That just makes no sense.
The proposed Waters of the U.S. ruling is a
bad idea and it will cripple the ability of farmers
and ranchers to continue to produce food. If
the proposed rule prevails, it will be illegal for
farmers to spray for weeds or apply fertilizer to
their ground unless they have a permit. Routine
tasks like building fences will even require
permits if they will be built in or near a ditch.
Many farming practices are time-sensitive and
farmers cannot afford to wait on a government
agency to process a permit.
Common sense goes a long way and it is
desperately needed when looking at this proposed
ruling. If dry farm fields and ordinary farm ditches
and ponds a ɔ