By Garrett Hawkins, President Missouri Farm Bureau
I just finished testifying to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) against the proposed re-write of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), which provided a solid regulatory and legal framework to protect water quality through the Clean Water Act. The Biden Administration has announced that they will roll back the NWPR in favor of stricter, more onerous regulations that could broaden the scope of federal jurisdiction.
The EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have proposed a “step 1” Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rulemaking which would replace the Trump Administration’s Navigable Water Protection Rule (NWPR) after only one year. Instead of bright jurisdictional lines of what is and what isn’t classified as a WOTUS, this proposal rolls back the clock to the murkiness of the Obama-era WOTUS rule, adding ditches, ephemeral streams, low spots, impoundments and adjacent wetlands to the WOTUS definition. The comment period on this proposed rule will close Feb. 7.
President Hawkins testifies against expanded WOTUS jurisdiction.
Take action today to let the EPA and USACE know you want to uphold the NWPR. Limiting WOTUS jurisdiction over non-navigable tributaries & features is longstanding MOFB policy and our top priority.
Tell the EPA: Limit WOTUS Jurisdiction.