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September 30, 2016 CapitalPress.com 7 Senate report says WOTUS expanding federal control By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Kathy Aney/EO Media Group United Grain Corp. has pledged to invest $9 million in elevators and terminals it purchased this summer from Pendleton Grain Growers. New holdings include all of PGG’s upcountry elevators, the McNary River Terminal (pictured) and the Alicel rail terminal. After harvest, key decisions loom for United Grain Company has vowed $9M for facilities upgrades By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group PENDLETON, Ore. — Now that wheat harvest is winding down across north- east Oregon, United Grain Corp. is beginning to focus on how it will upgrade facilities purchased from Pendleton Grain Growers earlier this year. United Grain has pledged to invest $9 million in the buildings, which include all of PGG’s upcountry eleva- tors, the McNary River Ter- minal and Alicel rail termi- nal. Regional Manager Jason Middleton said they have not made any decisions yet, but hope to have a plan take shape by November. Middleton, who was hired from PGG after the co-op vot- ed to dissolve in May, said the goal is to add capacity at ele- vators where farmers are most likely to store their grain, and increase eficiency at the two terminals to keep trucks mov- ing in and out quickly. Other elevators will likely be shut down for good, though Mid- dleton said the crystal ball is still a little foggy. “We’ve had a couple meet- ings about it, but haven’t by any stretch of the imagination come away with a plan of what we’re going to do,” he said. This year’s winter wheat harvest was a baptism by ire for United Grain, which inalized its deal with PGG on June 10. Fifteen days lat- er, Middleton said, they were already taking wheat from the west end of the county, giving Kathy Aney/EO Media Group United Grain Corp.’s McNary River Terminal is among the compa- ny’s facilities it bought from Pendleton Grain Growers. Now that the busy wheat harvest is winding down, the company is considering which facilities to upgrade. them only enough time for an initial cursory glance at infra- structure needs. Several elevators were closed right off the bat, in- cluding those at Mission, Holdman, Elgin and McCo- mas in downtown Pendleton. “Some of them were safety issues, didn’t meet our stan- dards and hadn’t handled a lot of bushels for a long time,” Middleton said. Others, such as Rew, Stan- ton and Brogiotti, were closed by Middleton in 2012 when he took over as director of grain operations for PGG. Since then, Middleton said, the majority of money has been spent at McNary and Alicel, which can hold up to 6.6 million bushels and 1.2 million bushels, respectively. That has a lot to do with how the grain farming indus- try has changed, Middleton said. Combines are able to cut wheat far more eficiently than they used to, and farms are sending larger trucks lon- ger distances to get their prod- uct to market. What used to be smaller farm trucks heading to the closest country elevator are now large semis lining up out- side McNary along the Co- lumbia River. Ideally, Middle- ton said, they should be able to weigh and unload trucks in 5 to 10 minutes. “The terminals are farther along than our upcountry ele- vators,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at now.” This year’s harvest wasn’t without its struggles, Middle- ton said, as they were forced to hit the ground running. But overall, growers in Umatil- la County had much better spring and winter conditions and should be closer to their average yields, he said. “We got some saving rains, and we didn’t have a brutal winter either,” Middleton said. Already, the Pendleton area has received some good rains that will help farmers plant into better moisture for next year. According to the National Weather Service, Pendleton has received .68 inches of precipitation during September, more than the usu- al .45 inches. Middleton said he is en- couraged, but growers need more to continue reversing the damage from previous years of intense drought. “We have some guys seed- ing now into better mois- ture this year,” Middleton said. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works last week released a 38-page report it says details how EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are already ex- panding federal control over land and water based on their “waters of the United States” rule — which has been stayed in federal court. Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said the re- port demonstrates in detail that the agencies, under the Obama administration, are “running rogue” and it’s time for Con- gress to rein in the EPA and the Corps. “Congress shouldn’t wait on the Supreme Court to make the inevitable decision that this agency overreach is illegal,” he said. The report was prepared by majority committee staff and released on Sept. 20. The committee’s minority staff has not responded to requests for comment. The EPA stated in an email that it will review the report and respond to Capital Press at an undetermined time. The Corps responded in an email that it is unable to com- ment because the rule is still in litigation, having been stayed by the court. Despite EPA’s claims that existing exemptions, includ- ing exemptions for farming, remain unaffected, the case studies examined by the ma- jority staff demonstrate the falseness of those assurances, according to the report. The report claims the agencies have narrowed the exemption in practice and simply regulate under anoth- er name – such as renaming a ditch a regulated tributary or wetland. In a written statement, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the report exposes the administration’s “reckless and unlawful” ac- tions in enforcing the Clean Water Act and shows in detail how EPA and the Corps have used an overly expansive in- terpretation of their authority to regulate waters. “The case studies present- ed in the report relect the se- rious concerns we have raised for more than two years. The Waters of the U.S. rule … will cement that lawless expansion of authority unless Congress acts to stop it,” he said. The report is conclusive evidence of EPA’s continued efforts to expand its jurisdic- tion over all waters, Tracy Bruner, president of the Na- tional Cattlemen’s Beef Asso- ciation, said in a statement. “While EPA has consis- tently claimed that the WO- TUS rule preserves the ex- emptions for normal farming and ranching activities, their regulatory track record proves the exact opposite,” he said. The report shows that the EPA and the Corps have and will continue to advance very broad claims of jurisdiction based on discretionary author- ity to deine their own juris- diction, the committee report found. Inhofe, Farm Bureau and NCBA are calling on 11 sen- ators to follow through on their warning to EPA and the Corps that they would support efforts to revise the WOTUS rule if it were enforced in a way that eroded traditional exemptions. Inhofe also pointed out that 69 senators — a veto-proof majority — have gone on record with grave concerns regarding the WOTUS rule over the past year, saying it’s time to come together to pro- tect land users and end agency overreach. Clinton supports WOTUS; Trump does not Capital Press Hillary Clinton says she supports the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule, while Don- ald Trump says he will elim- inate the rule if elected pres- ident. The candidates made their comments in statements pub- lished Sept. 20 on farmfu- tures.com. “I support the rule, but know we have to work with all stakeholders to ensure its common sense implementa- tion,” the Democratic nom- inee told the publication. “I was pleased the EPA worked hard to ensure the Clean Wa- ter Rule maintains longstand- ing exemptions for common farming practices, while clarifying the Clean Water Act and ensuring much-need- ed certainty for all stake- holders so our families and businesses can rely on clean water.” Her Republican opponent took the opposite position. “I will eliminate the un- constitutional Waters of the U.S. rule, and will direct the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to no longer use this un- lawful rule and related guid- ance documents in making ju- risdictional determinations,” Trump said. “I will also en- sure that these agencies re- spect the valid exclusions under environmental statutes Capital Press ile photo Hillary Clinton says she supports implementation of the EPA’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule. Donald Trump says he’ll eliminate the rule if elected president. for agricultural practices. As importantly, I will appoint a pro-farmer administrator of EPA.” In making the rule, the EPA an the Corps of Engi- neers sought to deine the “waters of the United States” that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. The agencies sought to reconcile two separate Supreme Court decisions on cases involving the act. The rules generated a lood of criticism and legal chal- lenges from farmers, ranchers and irrigators. They claim the rule ex- pands regulatory jurisdic- tion to any water with even a remote connection to those navigable waters. They say the rule doesn’t clearly deine protected waters and leaves determinations up to the agen- cy. EPA oficials say the new rule includes exemptions for agricultural activities and that nothing will change for farm- ers and ranchers. Lawsuits have blocked the rule’s implementation. 40-1/#14
