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Farmers Union wants continued clarity & certainty in new WOTUS rule

The National Farmers Union says EPA’s announcement of reopening the Waters of the U.S. Rule leaves farmers wondering how the changes will affect them. 

Mike Stranz is their Vice President of Advocacy.  He tells Brownfield it is too soon to know what the Biden EPA is going to do. “Being in this phase of uncertainty isn’t great, but then again you don’t want to jump out ahead of what the eventual definition is going to be, so we’re going to focus a lot on taking part in the meaningful stakeholder engagements that EPA seeks.”

Stranz says the WOTUS rule has been hotly contested since the 1972 Clean Water Act, and the rule has ping-ponged between greater regulation and adjustments over the past three administrations.  Stranz tells Brownfield there is probably some middle ground to be found. “I think that there is going to be a place that this can land between the 2015 and 2020 decisions, and hopefully, most of all, we can have clarity and certainty about what the rules will be in the future.”

During initial meetings with EPA, Stranz says the agency mentioned there were about 300 waterways that were not adequately protected, with most of them in the mountain west region.