Ag Leaders Look Forward to Helping EPA Rewrite WOTUS
On the heels of a Supreme Court decision against the EPA’s WOTUS Act, industry leaders say although this is cause for celebration, there is still work to be done.All nine justices agreed the EPA’s expansive regulatory efforts violate the Clean Water Act. As Justice Samuel Alito puts simply in his Majority Opinion, he says the EPA’s interpretation of its powers went “too far.”
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s CEO Ted McKinney says the Supreme Court’s decision is a “Godsend,” but the goal now is to update and implement a regulatory framework that better reflects the needs of farmers, ranchers and landowners.
“I do not revel that the EPA got it wrong—they did. Now, the work is not done. They have to go rewrite the regulations, albeit with a more narrow interpretation, and we’ll be right there working with them. We're thrilled and relieved that this is behind us and we can go forward. It'll be a more narrow interpretation that allows States to do what States do well, lets the federal government—in this case, the EPA—do what they do well, and take some relief off of the farmer and rancher as they try to figure out how to do their work on the farms.”