Farmers Cheer President Shitstain's Attack On Clean Water Rule That Doesn't Apply To Them Anyway

[hatrack]

EDIT

WOTUS has emerged as a major bête noire in some ag circles. Agribiz lobbyist Larry Combest, a former US rep from Texas, declared it "one of the biggest land grabs in American history." The American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents the interests of Big Ag, has vilified WOTUS since its inception, charging that it gives the EPA massive power to regulate farms.

At his signing ceremony, Trump gave voice to these complaints. Deeming WOTUS "one the worst examples of federal regulation," Trump insisted that "it has truly run amok" and is "prohibiting [farmers] from being allowed to do what they're supposed to be doing." Echoing the Farm Bureau, he said WOTUS meant that the EPA can regulate "nearly every puddle and every ditch on a farmer's land," and vowed that his executive order would "pave the way for the elimination of this very destructive and horrible rule."

Just one problem with that rhetoric: WOTUS has very little to do with farming. The original Clean Water Act exempted agriculture, and WOTUS maintains that status, notes Scott Faber, senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group. "What's so bizarre about the fight over WOTUS is that the only sector of commerce that's clearly exempt from the rule has kicked up the most dirt about it," Faber said. Granted, defining what constitutes a waterway worthy of regulation is a complex process, and even WOTUS's supplementary introduction is 299 pages. But concerns about ag are dispensed with on page 8:

This rule not only maintains current statutory exemptions, it expands regulatory exclusions from the definition of "waters of the United States" to make it clear that this rule does not add any additional permitting requirements on agriculture.

In a January 2017 report, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service analyzed the WOTUS and came to the same conclusion as the EPA: The final rule "makes no change to and does not affect existing statutory and regulatory exclusions: exemptions for normal farming, ranching, and silviculture activities such as plowing, seeding, and cultivation." The report notes that the Obama administration at one point proposed an interpretive rule that triggered confusion in the ag world about whether farm ditches might fall under regulation. But the EPA withdrew that particular proposal way back in January 2015, the CRS report states.

What's more, says Faber, replacing WOTUS will be a long slog, requiring a lengthy rulemaking process. And once that process is done, he adds, the new rule will itself be subject to lawsuits from environmental groups that it's deemed too weak.

EDIT

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/03/trumps-latest-gift-big-ag-empty-gesture

[Kolesar]

1. Vernal pools are essential for the lifecycle of salamanders and amphibians

The eggs hatch in these ephemeral pools that dry up in the summer heat. The salamanders had walked off to the woodlots by that time.

America has a huge variety of salamanders. I would say : "America is the land of the salamanders". Makes me proud.