Its been a few months since we talked about WOTUS. In January 2023, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized a new WOTUS rulemaking that replaced the 2020 navigable Waters Protection Rule. In their new rule, the agencies doubled down on the unworkable “significant nexus test” and created more risk and uncertainty for farmers and other landowners. The Farm Bureau and other allies sued the EPA and the Corps over the 2023 WOTUS Rule. District Court rulings have prevented the 2023 Rule from going into effect in 27 states. The litigation is still ongoing, but a May 2023 Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA forced EPA and the Corps to make revisions to their 2023 Rule.
Category: Legislative Updates
President Biden recently signed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations legislation into law that provides funding for several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. NACD appreciates that the enactment of final federal spending legislation prevents a government shutdown and ends temporary funding measures but is disappointed that it reduces funding for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and several programs and accounts that are critical to conservation.
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The Agriculture Department on Wednesday announced it will use $138 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to enroll 138 new easements into the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.
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Let’s move from funding and policy issues to an erosion (sorry!) in the governance in the House of Representatives. Here is the Hill’s PunchBowl’s spin on what is happening with the House Republican Majority.
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The Biden administration announced $772.6 million Wednesday to support more than 200 projects in rural communities, addressing high-speed internet, drinking water and wastewater.
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What happened: Highway and bridge construction finished 2023 on a high note – the total value of highway activity was $7.2 billion in December, jumping 27 percent compared to December 2022. The total value of work was $111.2 billion, up 19 percent over 2022. Bridge work was also up in December (+20 percent) and YTD (+12 percent).
Annual market activity was also strong for airport runway work, rail and transit terminal construction, and Class I railroad investments.
Why it matters: Current market activity – or the Value of Construction Put in Place –is released by the U.S. Census Bureau and tracks the work completed on a project each month, regardless of the total size of a project or when it was awarded. As projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) are put out to bid and contractors start to work, the value of construction and overall market activity has also increased.
Four national trade associations petitioned the White House to make improvements in its implementation of “made in America” requirements for construction products and materials. They noted their members have encountered significant difficulty in navigating the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) “opaque and unbalanced implementation,” risking delays and cost increases for vital housing, transportation, and water infrastructure projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act.
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Groups working to help farmers and consumers get legal rights to the information and parts they want to fix equipment are pushing the Federal Trade Commission for regulations on manufacturers’ repair policies.
The FTC is analyzing a petition submitted earlier this year by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund and iFixit seeking “a rule protecting the right to repair,” while also considering more than 1,800 comments on the matter submitted by parties on both sides of the fight. The FTC could grant or deny the petition in whole or in part, according to a Federal Register notice. It could also “deem the petition insufficient to warrant commencement of a rulemaking proceeding.”
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Up against another government shutdown deadline, Congress approved another funding extension to March. Both sides gave some in the negotiations to satisfy majorities in Congress. However, House Speaker Johnson is slowly losing key Republican support which 1) then requires more Democratic support on future funding votes and 2) raises questions on his ability to lead House Republicans.
On the tax front, House Ways and Means Committee today begins consideration of a $80 billion bipartisan tax bill. The bill under consideration would restore companies’ ability to deduct the entire cost of certain equipment or capital expenditures and makes it easier to deduct interest expenses. Amendments on repeal of the death tax are expected in be introduced.
According to AgriPulse, the Supreme Court appeared open Wednesday to the idea of dumping, or at least trimming the scope of a 40-year-old legal doctrine that says judges should defer to “reasonable” agency interpretations of statutes in cases where Congress has not been clear enough.
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