December 11, 2018

NDFB President attended EPA Clean Water signing

Topic: Issues

December 11, 2018: EPA invites AFBF and state Farm Bureaus to signing of proposed Clean Water rules to replace Waters of the U.S (WOTUS) in Washington, D.C., and NDFB President Daryl Lies was there.

Download the 2018 EPA WOTUS rule change mp3

Read the transcript:

The great policy process of the Farm Bureau network is in full display this week as I attend the American Farm Bureau Federation resolutions process; the initial steps of which state Farm Bureau presidents gather and have a rigorous and vigorous debate on policies that will be going forward to the American Farm Bureau Federation delegate session.

But a special opportunity arose this week. As we were making our travel plans to head to D.C., we got notice from AFBF President Zippy Duvall of an invitation to the EPA by Administrator Wheeler to attend the signing of the new proposed regulations and rules regarding Waters of the U.S. New rules for the Clean Water Act, which will replace the WOTUS that was put into place in 2015 by the Obama Administration.

This is a big step in turning back those very onerous regulations of the Obama Administration when it regards control of land by the federal government.

The biggest land grab in American history was WOTUS. The Farm Bureau network was very instrumental in fighting back against this onerous rule, this extreme government overreach, and I love what Mr. Wheeler, the interim administrator of the EPA had to say today. He said we want a rule that allows the landowner, the farmer and rancher, to step out onto his property and be able to look out across his property and determine whether it is a Waters of the U.S. nexus, or if it’s a local water issue.

That is a big improvement, because in the previous rule, almost every puddle was under the EPA and federal jurisdiction. And not knowing for sure whether we were violating the WOTUS rule, by plowing and not having a permit, by seeding a crop and not having a permit. He stressed the importance to be able to understand the rule and know what is and what isn’t a federal regulated navigable water.

It is something that we can be proud of in the Farm Bureau network for the work that all 50 state Farm Bureaus engaged in fighting back against extreme government overreach.  

More information including a pre-publication version of the Federal Register notice, the supporting analyses and fact sheets are available at: https://www.epa.gov/wotus-rule