The following statement about a recent federal district court ruling regarding the 2015 “Waters of the United States” rule may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall.
Duvall
“A federal district court ruling in Georgia late last week has effectively suspended the flawed ‘Waters of the United States’ rule from taking effect in 11 more states that challenged its legality. The 2015 rule is now stayed in a total of 24 states. While the ruling was a clear validation of many concerns that Farm Bureau has expressed about the rule, we need to continue to work diligently to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to formally repeal the rule. The illegal rule is overbroad, vague and confusing, and it goes far beyond the intent of Congress when it passed the Clean Water Act. This overreach and confusion has created a situation where farmers and ranchers would need to hire a team of lawyers and consultants to perform many ordinary farming practices on their land. EPA should ditch this rule for good and replace it with a proposal that offers both clean water and clear rules—one that is easy to interpret and allows farmers and ranchers to continue to feed, clothe and fuel our nation.”