Part 2: AFBF on WOTUS

Today is part two of our three-part series on recent updates to the Waters of the US rule. Courtney Briggs, senior director of government affairs with the American Farm Bureau Federation, explains how the details of the new proposed ruling and how it changes federal jurisdiction under WOTUS.

“We believe that this rule is the most faithful reading of the Supreme Court decisions that have been handed down related to WOTUS. There are a handful of them. They all need to be considered. And we believe that this EPA and the core have taken all that into account, and that this is the most legally durable rule that we have seen to date. We do believe that it will appropriately balance the role of the federal government versus the role of state governments to regulate our nation's waters. One of the aspects that they were very clear on is that states have the primary role of protecting our nation's waters. In November.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Army announced a proposed rule that would clarify the definition of the Waters of the United States and fully implement the US Supreme Court's decision in second versus the Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed rule public comment period just closed on January 5. For more information, you can log on to epa.gov, front slash, WOTUS, part three of this series coming up in tomorrow's line on the agriculture report.