American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall calls a second U.S. District Court ruling to halt the 2023 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule a win for farmers. The ruling, out of North Dakota, stops implementation of the rule in 24 states. The first ruling, out of Texas, halted the rule in two states.
“This ruling reinforces our belief that the current WOTUS Rule proposed by the Biden administration EPA is a clear case of government overreach. AFBF stood with the 24 states involved and more than a dozen other organizations in this challenge and in backing the first successful court challenge earlier this year on behalf of farmers and ranchers who simply want clear rules.
Two District Courts have now acknowledged the new rule likely oversteps EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act. With the rule now on hold in more than half the country, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps should do the right thing by listening to our legitimate concerns and rewriting the rule to draw a bright line of jurisdiction.
This isn’t just a philosophical dispute: farmers and ranchers in the remaining states are left with no clear way to determine where federal jurisdiction begins and ends on their own property. The rule in question creates a fuzzy, subjective assessment that’s unfair to landowners,” said Duvall.
Here’s the bottom line according to Duvall: “Clean water is important to all of us and farmers and ranchers certainly share the goal of caring for our natural resources – we depend on them for our livelihoods – all we’re asking for is a sensible rule that farmers can interpret without hiring a team of lawyers.”
The 24 states impacted by the most recent ruling are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The first decision to halt the rule came from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on March 20, 2023. It stopped implementation of the rule in Texas and Idaho.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
WOTUS has become synonymous with controversy in recent years. It has been through several iterations, most of which were struck down or rewritten to more closely align with the federal Clean Water Act. At times, farmers with a small depression that held water for a short time after a heavy rain storm were susceptible to WOTUS regulations. Congress recently passed legislation to clarify the rule, but it was vetoed by the Biden administration. So now, any relief must come from the court system. In the end, we feel farmers will prevail in court and the clear attempt to over-regulate will be rolled-back and replaced with a more common sense approach. Situations like this cause farmers and ranchers to feel very uncertain and uneasy about their operation. The goal here is for clarity and purposeful regulation of our actual navigable waters!
