Maryland’s Attorney General has filed a friend of the court or amicus brief supporting EPA in the Chesapeake Bay Lawsuit. He says the lawsuit attacks efforts to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay and strengthen its economic value to the Mid Atlantic Region. Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Hill says it’ an example of a federal agency taking away farmers property rights and ability to manage their operations with best management practices.
Hill says the Chesapeake Bay covers 64,000 square miles and six different states. The American Farm Bureau and several states are suing EPA over their regulation. Hill says most producers are environmentally responsible and want the ability to run their own operations without government overreach.
He says a major concern is that if the EPA wins the Chesapeake Bay court action, that that authority will spill over into the Mississippi and Missouri River Basins and other watersheds across the country hampering farmers ability to farm.
The case is expected to be heard this summer in the 3rd. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.