Last week the House Agriculture Subcommittee held a hearing on the applicability of the Clean Water Act rule proposed by EPA on ag practices. Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap says this proposal is not a good one and is EPA’s attempting to expand its powers to get control of as much land as possible and not an attempt to clarify the Clean Water Act.
EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NRCS all claim voluntary conservation practices are exempt under the proposed rule. Paap says that’s a negligent mischaracterization as most of those practices are already exempt under the Clean Water Act and don’t really go far enough anyway in order to mitigate the rule or make it livable.
Paap says one of the key questions that needs to be answered is is it the State’s responsibility to regulate water quality or is it the federal government’s responsibility to regulate all navigable waters.