Clean Water Act Passes out of Committee

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Water Restoration Act by a 12 to 7 vote Thursday. Under provisions of the act, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says farmers and ranchers would be required to obtain permits for common, everyday activities like driving a tractor near an irrigation ditch or grazing cattle near a mud hole. Tamara Thies, Chief Environmental Counsel for NCBA, says this bill has nothing to do with cleaner water. Instead, she says it reflects activists’ goals of having the federal government controlling our land use and waters. Thies called for the bill to be stopped. An amendment submitted by Senator Max Baucus received the support of the National Farmers Union Board of Directors. The board said by placing existing regulatory exemptions in legal statute and legislatively clarifying the exemptions for prior converted cropland - farmers and ranchers would be able to predict what resources are subject to Clean Water Act regulation with greater certainty...HoosierAgToday