More woes have been shared in testimony at a Senate Agriculture hearing Tuesday about the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) proposed rule.
Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas says EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said the agency is close to implementing the rule – and in the meantime has changed the name, “From ‘Waters of the United States’, ‘WOTUS’, that’s the acronym, to the ‘Clean Water Rule.’ Well, quite frankly, Administrator McCarthy, merely changing the name is not enough. We need to change the rule.”
Ranking chairman, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, said she believes the EPA is going to change it, based on the agency’s responses to her concerns, “I believe the appropriate changes WILL be made to ensure that our agriculture producers get the certainty that they need and that they deserve.”
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge testified that the vague terms in the proposed rule would confuse a reasonable person, “Farmers and business owners should not have to wait until faced with a penalty to learn that the stream or wetland on their property falls under the Clean Water Act. Regardless of size, no farm or ranch can operate under such conditions.
Rutledge said she would do all in her power to block the rule and protect her state’s farmers and economy.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com