California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson said last week's release of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers "promises clear guidelines to help farmers maintain and improve water quality while retaining the flexibility they need to manage their land."
The Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which will take effect once published in the Federal Register, will replace the 2015 Waters of the United States rule that would have given federal agencies extensive authority to regulate routine farming activities. Farm Bureau advocated for a repeal and rewrite of the 2015 WOTUS rule because of its expansion of federal jurisdiction over water and land.
"The old WOTUS rule generated only confusion and litigation," Johansson said. "We hope the new rule will lead to a more cooperative approach that sees farmers and ranchers as partners in protection of natural resources. You won't find a stronger ally than farmers and ranchers when it comes to protecting land and natural resources, because they depend on those resources to produce food and farm products."
Following a 2017 presidential executive order, the EPA and Corps reviewed and then rescinded the previous WOTUS rule. In December 2018, the agencies released a draft of the newly proposed rule that revised the definition of waters of the U.S., to clarify federal authority under the Clean Water Act.
The revised Navigable Waters Protection Rule defines four categories of waters that are federally regulated: territorial seas and traditional navigable waters; perennial and intermittent tributaries to those waters; certain lakes, ponds and impoundments; and wetlands adjacent to jurisdictional waters. The new rule also describes what is not subject to federal control, such as features that only contain water due to rainfall; groundwater; many ditches; prior converted cropland; farm and stock watering ponds; and waste treatment systems.
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