Washington Insider - Tuesday

By DTN's Washington Insider

Here's a quick monitor of Washington farm and trade policy issues from DTN's well-placed observer.

Surprise! Less Money Being Spent on Lobbying

Running counter to what many Capitol Hill observers would expect, the amount of money spent on lobbying members of Congress actually has declined over the past four years, according to a new report by the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). And, the analysis of the numbers provides several reasons, some unexpected, others very expected.

According to CRP, the reduction in lobbying is not directly related to the historically low number of bills passed by Congress in that period or the historically low poll ratings of Congress. Rather, the study found a more complex set of reasons including a ban on congressional earmarks in appropriations bills (adopted in 2010) and an overall reduction in the number of major bills under consideration.

Another possible reason for the decline involves the definition of lobbying itself. Tougher rules governing lobbyists (adopted in 2007) increased the restrictions and imposed higher potential penalties on the activities of those who register and report under the federal lobbying law. For many K Street lobbyists, that merely meant that they ceased to be registered lobbyists and instead took on other titles with their same companies while continuing to do the same work. Thus, it is likely that just as much –– or more –– is being spent trying to influence legislation, but not all of that activity is legally defined as lobbying.

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Communists Want Russia to Drop Out of WTO

Russia's Communist Party is no fan of the World Trade Organization and its rules. In fact, the party defines the WTO as "a noose around Russia's neck and an attempt to control our country from the outside." So after nearly 18 years of working to become a member of the WTO and two years since Russia was successful in achieving that status, the Communist Party says it plans to introduce legislation this fall that would force Russia to withdraw.

Members of the ruling party, United Russia, reacted to the announcement by calling the move premature, and saying that economy has not been hurt so far by Russia's WTO membership. And, the United Russia Party adds, membership could yet bring significant benefits. "For now, to reexamine and to take Russia out of the WTO is a completely premature measure," said Nedezhda Shkolkina, deputy chairman of the Committee on Agriculture in the State Duma.

Communists control approximately 20% of the seats in the Duma, while the United Russia Party controls approximately 53%. The remaining 27% of seats are split between two other major political parties. Given these political divisions and the amount of work that Russia was required to complete as a condition of membership, it is unlikely that the country will be dropping out of the WTO any time soon.

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Washington Insider: The Toledo Effect on the Water Quality Debate

There has always been uncertainty regarding Clean Water Act jurisdiction across the United States, especially following U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006. Federal, state and local officials, along with industry, agriculture, environmental groups and the public, have pressed the government hard for a rule to eliminate overlap and confusion regarding the scope of protections for streams and wetlands.

Earlier this year, the feds decided to try to take on the issue, so the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wrote and published for comment a proposed clarification of the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction for the nation's water resources. The draft rule would cover 20 million acres of wetlands, 60% of all streams, including headwater, intermittent, and ephemeral streams and other areas.

As you might expect, almost nobody likes the proposal. The American Farm Bureau Federation says it threatens farmers, ranchers and other landowners. Bob Stallman, the bureau's president said, "Under EPA's proposed new rule, waters –– even ditches –– are regulated even if they are miles from the nearest 'navigable' waters. Indeed, so-called 'waters' are regulated even if they aren't wet most of the time."

EPA seemed shocked by the push-back and argues that the proposed rule, supported by the latest peer-reviewed science, in fact, "reduces regulation of ditches because for the first time it would exclude ditches that are constructed through dry lands and don't have water year-round."

More than a few observers have found themselves startled, a little, by the gap between the economic view offered by AFBF and the resource oriented view of EPA. The agency put the potential economic benefits of the proposed rule at $390 to $510 million, about double the potential costs ($160 to $278 million).

This summer, in the run-up to the fall elections, the Farm Bureau view seems to have come off a clear victor — not surprising, considering the depth of farmer-antagonism toward rules on resource use.

However, there was another event this summer which producers need to keep carefully in mind. Toledo, Ohio, found its drinking water so polluted the city briefly banned drinking tap water, and the authorities seem to agree that farming was the culprit. In response, the state of Ohio is taking steps to control fertilizer use in farming operations and a flood of new regulations are proposed.

For example, state Sen. Edna Brown, D-Toledo, has introduced legislation to add manure to the list of fertilizers requiring state certification. And, the Republican governor has a new, extensive anti-pollution initiative.

So far, environmental groups are reacting positively to the governor's announcements while calling on him to do more. For example, the National Wildlife Federation wants Lake Erie's western basin declared a "distressed watershed," ensuring that all farmers and livestock producers take quick action to implement best management practices.

The Ohio Environmental Council called the governor's plans "altogether appropriate," but says the state needs more than voluntary efforts including "enforceable standards to control agricultural nutrient pollution rather than relying on "good actors" within the farming community.

In addition, legislation now under consideration would alter fertilizer rules only recently established to require farmers using synthetic and chemical fertilizers to take a state-run certification course, and would move the current state certification requirement's effective date from 2017 to the end of this year.

So, while for most of the summer, agricultural organizations have dominated the local press with criticism of EPA's proposed rules, the Toledo drinking water problem seems to have changed public awareness of water quality problems and ways to deal with them.

Within agriculture, there has long been a modest group of producers who urge clear water quality objectives and the adoption of farming practices that can achieve them, perhaps similar to those being developed for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Clearly, the need for agreement on how to effectively limit water pollution from farm runoff without crippling productivity is great and likely will continue to grow — and, will be highly controversial.

At the same time, while producers across the Midwest may feel they have argued EPA and the Corps to a standstill on the jurisdictional issues, they may also feel somewhat snakebit by the emergence of the Toledo environmental problem — and the blizzard of regulations coming from urban environmental groups and many others in Ohio.

So, observers suggest that producers might do well to remember that their numbers are relatively modest in this urban nation and that their image is under political assault as far too "factory" oriented. It also is true that environmentalist instincts can be very powerful when aroused, especially when health issues are involved — as was the case in the 1960s when the Clean Water Act was passed and as is increasingly true in many locations today, Washington Insider believes.

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