Friday, February 11, 2022
CapitalPress.com 3
NASDA registers concerns over WOTUS rulemaking
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The National Associa-
tion of State Departments of
Agriculture has told the fed-
eral government it has signif-
icant concerns with the ratio-
nale used in the proposed
rulemaking for the “waters of
the United States” under the
Clean Water Act.
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers are
rewriting the the rules, known
as WOTUS.
The comments submit-
ted by Ted McKinney, CEO
of NASDA, also spoke to the
agencies’ disregard of state
governments’ role in regulat-
ing clean water.
The Clean Water Act
establishes limits on federal
jurisdiction and the role of the
federal government in regu-
lating interstate commerce,
thus recognizing the role of
states in regulating non-navi-
gable waters, he said.
“The Navigable Waters
Protection Rule respected
these limitations on federal
jurisdiction, as well as the
capabilities and responsibil-
ities of states to regulate and
promote water quality,” he
said.
The Biden administration
last June announced it would
repeal and replace that rule,
saying it had determined the
rule signifi cantly reduced
clean water protections.
“The
agencies
have
referred to a list of 333 proj-
ects that are causing environ-
mental harm based solely on
the premise that these proj-
Capital Press File
The organization representing state departments of
agriculture has voiced its concerns about plans to re-
write the federal waters of the U.S. rule.
ects are not subject to federal
jurisdiction, and seemingly
ignoring the role and respon-
sibilities of states’ review and
approval of projects that may
impact
non-jurisdictional
waters,” McKinney said.
In multiple stakeholder
briefi ngs and public meet-
ings, the benefi ts of many
of these projects were high-
lighted. Rather than con-
ducting the necessary anal-
ysis internally, the agencies
continued to assert these
misleading arguments in
public releases, he said.
EPA and the Corps are
now moving forward with
eff orts to resurrect a regula-
tory structure that was histor-
ically problematic for Ameri-
can agriculture, he said.
NASDA members, farm-
ers, ranchers and the agricul-
ture industry have repeatedly
sought clarity and reasonable-
ness in the regulatory defi ni-
tion of WOTUS. They have
argued that compliance with
clean water standards should
not require the employment
of expensive consultants to
determine the applicability of
standards, he said.
“Unfortunately, the pro-
posed rule will return us to
the ambiguity of past regu-
lation as well as the federal
overreach that ignored the
role and expertise of state
partners,” he said.
This is unacceptable, and
NASDA urges the agencies
to reconsider the clarity and
the undeniably appropriate
level of protection off ered by
the Navigable Waters Protec-
tion Rule and move to rein-
state this regulatory structure
through a process that will
withstand procedural com-
plaints in the courts, he said.
McKinney detailed NAS-
DA’s concerns with the agen-
cies’ inability to point to any
facts demonstrating environ-
mental harm under the Navi-
gable Waters Protection Rule,
their disregard for legal limita-
tions to federal authority, their
interpretations of “navigable”
and “signifi cant nexus” and
their proposed changes to the
exclusion of prior converted
cropland.
USDA and DOJ launch joint
anticompetitive reporting portal
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Farmers and ranchers
now can anonymously report
to the federal government
potentially unfair and anti-
competitive practices in the
livestock and poultry sectors
using a new online portal.
The website will advance
the goals of the Biden admin-
istration’s Action Plan for
Fairer, More Competitive
and More Resilient Meat and
Poultry Supply Chain, the
USDA and the Department
of Justice said.
“This new online tool
will help USDA and the Jus-
tice Department address anti-
competitive actions and cre-
ate livestock and poultry
markets that are fairer to our
nation’s producers,” Tom
Vilsack, USDA secretary,
said in a press release.
“I encourage produc-
ers who are aware of poten-
tial violations of competition
laws to submit information
to the portal so we can take
appropriate action to create
more competitive markets
in the agricultural sector,” he
said.
The new portal will allow
DOJ and USDA to collab-
orate early, enforce the law
vigorously and ensure eco-
nomic opportunity and fair-
ness for producers and
consumers, said Attorney
General Merrick Garland.
The United States Cat-
tlemen’s Association said
the announcement is one
more step toward bringing
increased transparency and
true price discovery to cattle
markets.
“USCA is pleased to see
the swift implementation of
this hotline, which guaran-
tees confi dentiality for those
reporting harmful business
practices. These are sensi-
tive matters and deserve to
be treated with extraordinary
care,” Brooke Miller, USCA
president, said.
“We acknowledge and
appreciate the White House’s
persistence in untangling the
decades of increased consol-
idation and unchecked mar-
ket power in the U.S. meat
industry,” he said.
R-CALF USA members
think the portal is a good idea
and wish it had been in place
at least a decade ago, said
Bill Bullard, R-CALF CEO.
“We’ll have to wait and
see if federal regulators will
respond more favorably to
any new complaints than
they have in the past,” he
said.
R-CALF fi led a lawsuit
against the Big Four packers
only after its numerous com-
plaints went unheeded and
after it was clear that fed-
eral regulators and Congress
were disinterested in taking
on the powerful packers, he
said.
“At this point, the portal
could be a valuable source of
new information that could
inform the USDA/DOJ’s
ongoing investigation of the
packing industry. Time will
tell,” he said.
National
Cattlemen’s
Beef Association declined
to comment on the new
portal.
The portal can be accessed
at www.farmerfairness.gov .
Producers can also sub-
mit complaints or tips about
potentially
anticompeti-
tive practices by email-
ing PSDComplaints@usda.
gov; calling (833) 342-
5773; or mailing Stop 3601,
1400 Independence Ave.
SW, Washington, D.C.,
20250-3601.
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