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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, October 06, 2024
EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are scrapping the “significant nexus” standard to determine when waters or wetlands are covered by the Clean Water Act, as well as their definition of “adjacent wetlands,” to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA.
Farm groups are among the dozens of industry trade associations expressing concern that the Environmental Protection Agency will try to retain broad authority to regulate discharges into non-navigable waters despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett.
The Supreme Court’s Clean Water Act decision to limit the federal government’s jurisdiction over “adjacent” wetlands prompted warnings that millions of acres of wetlands could be at risk, but also generated cheers from farm groups that have fought the interpretation of the 50-year-old law for decades.
In a major victory for farm groups, the Supreme Court on Thursday significantly reduced the scope of the Clean Water Act as interpreted by the federal government, ruling that the law only regulates wetlands when they are “as a practical matter indistinguishable from waters of the United States.”
Enforcement of the Biden administration’s “waters of the U.S.” rule is now blocked in 27 states following an appeals court decision out of Cincinnati Thursday in a challenge brought by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and business groups.
As promised, President Joe Biden vetoed a joint resolution from Congress to overturn his administration’s “waters of the U.S.” rule, likely dooming the measure to failure.
The Senate passed a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s “waters of the U.S.” rule, 53-43, sending the measure to the White House for what President Joe Biden has already promised will be a veto.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan defended his agency’s budget request and its “waters of the U.S.” rule against Republican criticism in an appearance Wednesday before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
The latest definition of “waters of the U.S.” may be better in some respects for farmers than a Obama administration’s 2015 rule, but the new regulations give the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers discretion that will create uncertainty for landowners.
