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Next steps important for WOTUS

The president of Missouri Farm Bureau says he is watching the next steps from the Environmental Protection Agency following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Waters of the United States.

In Sackett vs. EPA, the justices unanimously reversed and remanded a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals requiring the Sacketts to have a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to build a house next to an Idaho lake.

Garrett Hawkins says the ruling affects the Biden administration’s approach to WOTUS.

“Time will tell in the next few weeks, but you can tell the Supreme Court has heard the concerns of farmers and landowners.”

Hawkins says more legislative work could be done to address WOTUS.

“The Supreme Court was very clear in saying if the intent of Congress is to usurp state authority and pull more authority to the Feds, they need to make it abundantly clear by revising the Clean Water Act. This Supreme Court recognizes the role of states in regulating land and water use.”

Hawkins says farmers in more than half of the United States, including Missouri, are following the WOTUS rule in place before the Biden administration’s update from earlier this year.