Farm Bureau Federation Announces Plan To Sue EPA Over Chesapeake Bay Cleanup - NYT [View All]

[hatrack]

In late December, the Environmental Protection Agency put the six states in the Chesapeake Bay’s 64,000-square-mile watershed on a “pollution diet,” requiring steep cuts in the urban and farm runoff that has imperiled the health of the bay. The enhanced regulations are to be enforced by the states but could fall under direct federal control if pollution benchmarks are not met, the agency has said. The plan, developed over several years in coordination with states, industry and other stakeholders, has drawn praise from advocacy groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. But others are not so pleased.

In a speech on Sunday, Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents more than 6.2 million member families, said his organization would file suit against the E.P.A. over the new regulations. The lawsuit will be just the first salvo in a broader struggle with the agency over pollution controls, including pending greenhouse gas regulations, Mr. Stallman said. “It is clear to us that over the last two years, E.P.A. has established some of the most burdensome, and we believe illegal, environmental regulations ever,” he said.

The agency’s plan for the Chesapeake requires the six watershed states to reduce nitrogen runoff by 25 percent, phosphorus by 24 percent, and sediment by 20 percent, all by 2025. Responsibility for the reductions will be shared by rural, suburban, urban, agricultural and industrial sources. The farm bureau’s lawsuit will argue that the E.P.A. exceeded its statutory authority in setting specific runoff limits, failed to allow sufficient time for public comment, and relied on faulty scientific models, the Farm Bureau says.

“Our lawsuit is not whether farmers will work to achieve clean water,” Mr. Stallman said in his speech. “Our lawsuit is about whether E.P.A. can dictate how we get there — and at what cost.” “I know who I trust in that scenario — America’s farmers and ranchers, who, day after day, are our nation’s true environmentalists,” he added.

Ed. - :puke:

EDIT

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/farm-bureau-challenges-e-p-a-on-chesapeake-pollution/?ref=earth