News

Farm Bureau concerned about WOTUS re-write

A deputy general counsel for the American Farm Bureau Federation says there are concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency’s “surgical” re-write of the 2023 Waters of the United States rule.

Travis Cushman says the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear in the Sackett vs. EPA ruling issued in late May, the Biden administration’s updated WOTUS rule won’t work.

“We are concerned it appears the EPA and Army Crops of Engineers intend to keep the rule largely in place and just remove certain components,” he says. “We think they’re trying to go beyond the scope of the WOTUS rule.”

At the end of June, EPA made a formal request to a U.S. District Court in North Dakota to stay a pending lawsuit, led by Farm Bureau, until the new rule is written. Cushman tells Brownfield…

“The AFBF and our partners let the EPA know we weren’t supportive of the request.”

Cushman says the EPA needs to write a completely different rule that complies with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

He also says American Farm Bureau and its litigation partners have filed a motion to vacate the WOTUS rule in a separate court in Texas.