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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
The Biden administration has been filling positions relatively quickly at departments and agencies other than USDA that have regulatory authority over agriculture, while some of Donald Trump’s nominees to similar positions ran into troubles during the confirmation process.
One of the 11 Republican senators negotiating the final details of the bipartisan infrastructure package says it’s possible to have the bill text ready by the middle of the week.
The Biden administration plans to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act after concluding the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule is causing “significant environmental degradation,” according to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is poised to take back the chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee pending the outcome of a Georgia runoff, says she would make it a “top priority” to set up an agricultural carbon market.
A water resources reauthorization bill nearing final congressional approval could accelerate the reconstruction of locks and dams and other waterway projects.
The lawsuits have begun over the government’s latest attempt to define “waters of the U.S.,” with New Mexico ranchers and Chesapeake Bay conservationists challenging the recently published rule.
The Trump administration has released a replacement for the former “waters of the U.S.” rule that significantly reduces federal jurisdiction over streams and wetlands, triggering what almost certainly will be a series of protracted legal battles over the scope of the Clean Water Act.
The Trump administration is expected to soon release a new "waters of the U.S." rule redefining what streams and wetlands are regulated by the Clean Water Act, and some observers think the announcement could come this weekend when President Donald Trump speaks at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual convention.
The Trump administration's proposed changes to the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) “decreases protection for our nation’s waters and does not support the objective of restoring and maintaining ‘the chemical, physical and biological integrity’ of these waters,” EPA’s Science Advisory Board said.
The rule replacing the 2015 definition of “waters of the U.S.” is expected in the next few months, but that doesn’t mean federal courts won’t have Clean Water Act cases to deal with in the meantime — and for years to come.
