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WOTUS opponents could find unlikely ally in McCarthy

Opponents of the Waters of the U.S. Rule could find an unlikely ally as the Biden administration looks to craft new clean water regulations. 

Farm groups like the National Pork Producers Council were very critical of the Obama administration’s Waters of the U.S. Rule.  The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under Obama, Gina McCarthy, is now the White House National Climate Advisor.

NPPC assistant vice president and general counsel Michael Formica tells Brownfield McCarthy got a bad rap among agriculture because of WOTUS.

“NPPC actually supported her to be the head of EPA, she’s a really capable bureaucrat. And her focus in the Obama administration was climate change. And she was unable to do anything on climate change because of how poorly the water office ran and managed the WOTUS issue.”

He says McCarthy understands how “super-charged” WOTUS has become and NPPC looks forward to working with the Biden administration on the issue.

“Let’s identify those issues and find solutions to those, rather than painting with a broad brush and declaring a field that’s growing corn, saying it’s a navigable river.”

Brownfield spoke to Formica during the 2021 World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.