Ag Policy Blog

House Continues to Wrestle with Waters of the United States

Chris Clayton
By  Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor
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I'm on the road this week, having visited farmers in Oklahoma, Texas and now New Mexico. We're talking about anything and everything they aren't talking about in Washington, but that phenomenon never ceases to amaze me. I had tried to line up a trip to a congressman's home as part of this road trip, but that didn't work out. All the better, it seems.

I have my son with me on this trip. He caught three catfish over the weekend in Oklahoma, which made his trip.

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With that, here's a little bit of D.C. Merry-Go-Round from DTN's Washington Insider:

House Republicans continue to modify the Obama administration's proposed plan to define the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act via the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Jointly published April 21 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the proposed rule would bring under federal jurisdiction all tributaries of streams, lakes, ponds and impoundments, as well as wetlands that affect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of larger, navigable downstream waters.

To make clear their objection to the proposal, House Republicans last week introduced legislation to block EPA and the corps from "developing, finalizing, adopting, implementing, applying, administering, or enforcing" the proposed waters of the United States rule or any associated guidance that attempts to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act.

Other House action on WOTUS is coming this week. And like other legislation approved during this Congress, the versions that emerge from the House and Senate likely will differ significantly, meaning another conference committee will need to iron out those differences.

Follow me on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

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Comments

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Unknown
7/15/2014 | 3:39 PM CDT
It is nice to see the House is looking into the abusive powers. The EPA willingness to write their own laws and bypassing congress is crazy. To make a regulation more stringent than it was and in the prior form was deemed excessive by the Supreme Court is quite troubling. What a continued waste of taxpayers dollars and time. It is time for gov't accountability. Local problems need to be solved locally, that is why there are local governments.
melvin meister
7/15/2014 | 11:58 AM CDT
Good report Chris .Everybody needs to take care of the water quality in this country. No shirkers please.