Action on livestock regulations please ranchers around nation

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that federal livestock regulations, set by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2003, could not require producers to hold Clean Water Act permits unless their ranches and farms actually discharge livestock manure into the nation's waters. It was yet another victory notch for the agriculture industry in the continued saga of overreach by the EPA. The American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Pork Producers Council and a host of other agriculture organizations applauded the court's decision. "For the second time, a U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that EPA's authority is limited by the Clean Water Act to jurisdiction over only actual discharges to navigable waters, not potential discharges," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "We are pleased that the federal courts have again reined in EPA's unlawful regulation of livestock operations under the Clean Water Act. The court has affirmed that EPA, like other federal agencies, can only regulate where it has been authorized by Congress to do so." The Fifth Circuit ruling stated, "The Clean Water Act provides a comprehensive liability scheme and the EPA's attempt to supplement this scheme is in excess of its statutory authority."...more