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Chinn: WOTUS certainty needed quickly

Missouri’s Ag Director says she’s optimistic for a more durable definition for the latest revamp of the Waters of the United States rule.

Chris Chinn tells Brownfield a quick decision from the Trump administration on the Waters of the United States rule is needed to provide more certainty to farmers.

“We can’t let it take forever to get to a point where farmers have the certainty to be able to move forward. I think this administration at the rate they’ve been going, I think we’ll have certainty sooner than we have in the past.”

The U.S. EPA says it will start its review by getting input from stakeholders who were sidelined in the previous administration. One of the first sessions is happening Tuesday in a farmer roundtable in eastern Missouri.

EPA will then undertake a rulemaking process to revise the 2023 WOTUS definition to focus on clarity that will stand the test of time. And while the rulemaking process proceeds, EPA says it will issue guidance to the states implementing the pre-2015 definition of WOTUS for consistency.