Well more than half the wetlands in the United States are threatened by the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision, an EPA water official said on a webinar Wednesday.
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Category: Legislative Updates
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The Farm Bureau and construction groups are united in their support to get WOTUS right. I think the American Road and Transportation Builders (ARTBA) summed up the most recent action succinctly.
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American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented on the Biden Administration’s revised Waters of the U.S. Rule.
“EPA had a golden opportunity to write a Waters of the U.S. Rule that’s fair to farmers and stands the test of time, but instead chose to continue government overreach and revise only a small slice of the rule that was rejected by the Supreme Court.
“We’re pleased the vague and confusing ‘significant nexus’ test has been eliminated as the Supreme Court dictated. But EPA has ignored other clear concerns raised by the Justices, 26 states, and farmers across the country about the rule’s failure to respect private property rights and the Clean Water Act.
“Farmers and ranchers share the goal of protecting the resources they’re entrusted with. They deserve a rule that respects farmers as partners in that effort.”
Debating pros and cons of an issue intensifies when a bill is before Congress for consideration. With the farm bill front and center in the halls of Congress, this opinion piece typifies the kinds of issues that come up as a bill is under consideration.
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The quarterly briefing by NRCS Chief Cosby occurred this week. Below are the highlights on the staff presentation regarding climate change programs, a key priority for USDA.
Climate Smart Practice Update Notes – Dana Ashford-Kornburger.
Thank you all for the continued input and feedback on activities that provide mitigation benefits. Especially those stakeholders that have provided scientific literature and/or participated in State Technical Committees at the state level. Many states are building out Climate Change subcommittees of their State Technical Committees, so this is a great place to give input for state initiatives and provide feedback.
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Rep. Dusty Johnson, a member of the House Ag Committee and chairman of the Republican Main Street Caucus, told reporters Wednesday he doesn't believe members of the hard-line Freedom Caucus are "interested in delaying" this year's farm bill.
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Former House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson is calling on House GOP leaders to find the votes to pass the next farm bill not in the conservative flank of the Republican Party, but among the chamber's more moderate members.
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Five former Natural Resources Conservation Chiefs are joining specialty crop growers in calling for a loosening of income restrictions for conservation programs, but opponents worry that easing the means test will make it harder for smaller farmers to obtain assistance.
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Coupled with the massive influx of federal funding is a plethora of new and revised federal regulations from Buy America to Davis Bacon.
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More than 222,000 U.S. bridges need major repair work or should be replaced, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) analysis of the recently released U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) 2023 National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database. That figure represents 36 percent of all U.S. structures.
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