Ag Policy Blog

While the jury is out on whether a proposed Clean Water Act guidance rule will expand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's reach onto U.S. farms and ranches, EPA's latest strategic plan released last month shows the agency plans to reduce enforcement in all programs and to reduce the amount of pollutants removed from U.S. waters in the next five years.

By 2018 the agency plans to reduce, treat, or eliminate an estimated 1.1 billion pounds, or about 220 million pounds per year, based on a cumulative five-year average "as a result of concluded enforcement actions." That compares to an annual average of about 320 million pounds from 2005 to 2008.

In addition, EPA said that by 2018 it plans to conduct 70,000 federal inspections and evaluations in five years, or about 14,000 per year. That compares to the 2005-2009 baseline of an estimated 21,000 annually.

EPA said that by 2018 it has plans to initiate a five-year cumulative 11,600 civil judicial and administrative enforcement cases, or about 2,320 annually. That, too, would represent a drop from the 2005-2009 baseline of 3,900 annually.

In addition, EPA expects to conclude five-year cumulative, 10,000 civil judicial and administrative enforcement cases by 2018, or some 2,000 cases annually. This also would represent a drop from the 2005-2009 baseline of 3,800 annually.

Read EPA's 86-page, strategic plan here, http://www.eenews.net/…

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