Concern has been raised that burdensome and excessive federal regulations can delay or prohibit American businesses from investing in infrastructure or land development projects that will create jobs, grow crops, and improve how we manage our natural resources. Upon taking office, President Trump initiated a process to review and replace unnecessary regulatory barriers, which included […]
For eight long years of ideological warfare many states have argued that rainwater runoff, ditches, and puddles are not bodies of water, much less navigable ones, and that federal bureaucrats have no right trying to define them as such so as to establish their authority over every inch of private property in this country. Three […]
Our new proposal would make it easier to understand where the Clean Water Act applies — and where it does not. It would facilitate critical infrastructure projects, reduce barriers to business development and support economic growth. In Utah, a headwater state and a semiarid region, water resources are unique compared with other parts of the […]
Top federal officials traveled to the Wilson County fairgrounds outside of Nashville Tuesday to promote the Trump Administration’s proposal to weaken a federal clean water regulation. Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue called on Tennessee farmers to engage in the contentious debate. Trump officials want […]
The Trump administration is calling on farmers to throw their support behind a proposal to withdraw federal protections for many of the country’s waterways and wetlands. Environmental Protection Agency acting administrator Andrew Wheeler and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue on Tuesday traveled to Tennessee to drum up support among the state’s agricultural community. Wheeler says […]
On Dec. 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rolled out its updated “Waters of the United States” rule. Before you roll your eyes, let me explain. You may remember that this rule was botched by the Obama administration’s EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. It was an overstep of the original intent of the […]
Between the weather, market prices and crop production, farmers and ranchers are already faced with significant uncertainty as they seek to make a profit while feeding and fueling the world. The last thing they need is more uncertainty and overregulation from the federal government. Fortunately, over the past two years, we’ve made significant progress undoing […]
In 2015 the Obama administration created a “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule that was so broad and vague that almost any spot where rainwater flows or pools might be tagged as a federally protected body of water. With the stroke of a pen, farmers and ranchers across the heartland suddenly did not know if […]
Many farms in the U.S. have been in the family for three, four, five and six generations or more. Most states have Century Farms programs, which recognize farms that have been in the same family for more than 100 years. In 2013 there were 15,000 Century Farms in Iowa, 9,800 in Illinois, 8,583 in Wisconsin […]
Federal officials proposed new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) guidelines on Monday to help protect farmers and landowners from intrusive government regulations, per a release from the Alabama Farmers Federation. In their proposal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers clarified federal authority under the Clean Water Act. Alabama Farmers […]