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.

Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Drop States' NPDES Authority

State environmental and conservation organizations increasingly are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw their state's' authority to run their own Clean Water Act permit programs, according to Deborah Nagle, Water Permits Division Director in EPA's Office of Water.

Nagle recently said the agency has received 19 petitions seeking to withdraw the delegated authority of states to operate their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit programs under the Clean Water Act. Currently, 46 states are delegated to run their own programs, according to EPA.

EPA officials are concerned about the petitions because the agency wants states to have a strong program and because once EPA delegates NPDES authority to a state, the federal agency no longer has the resources to take a program back.

Environmental groups say they are filing their petitions as a way to prod state officials to improve their NPDES permitting systems. However, if their petitions are accepted, these organizations may find that the federal EPA is no longer equipped to do a better job than were the state agencies.

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Members of the European Parliament Will Gain Access to TTIP Negotiating Documents

The European Commission says it will make all Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating documents available to all members of the European Parliament, thus squelching complaints about a perceived lack of transparency in the process. The EC also says it will publish texts that outline the EU's specific negotiating proposals.

Currently, only European Parliament members from the Committee on International Trade are permitted to view the negotiating texts, and they must do so in an authorized reading room. Those members who have been denied access to the documents have complained loudly that they are in the dark about what is being negotiated.

Previously, the EC said it could not provide more access to the negotiating texts because the United States would not allow it. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has said that the United States would not allow more access to TTIP documents than that which is provided to members of Congress.

There are concerns in the United States that it will be difficult for negotiators to conclude the transatlantic agreement if every step of the talks is conducted in public. That theory will be tested in coming months as more individuals are granted access to the day-by-day TTIP proceedings.

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Washington Insider: Complex Immigration Problem

Last Friday, the president took executive action to temporarily legalize millions of illegal immigrants and immediately came under fire from editorial writers and others who argue that he exceeded his executive authority, and, oddly, that his "overreach" could "unify opposition to his presidency." This charge itself seems an overreach given the extent to which the current Congress and parties are already polarized.

That wasn't the only complaint, however. In only a few days, business representatives from many sectors have begun to say loudly that the executive action did not go far enough — specifically, that it did not solve their particular problems. And, to no one's surprise, that complaint often came from ag interests who note that the new program doesn't specifically address agriculture.

In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that under the plan, an estimated 250,000 farm workers likely would be eligible for relief from deportation and for work permits, which is only a fraction of the total number of undocumented workers currently working in the United States. The article also notes that farmers still hope that the president's decision to take unilateral action will propel Congress to achieve a legislative solution that addresses agriculture workforce needs.

For example, it cites Ed Schoen, a New York dairy farmer and board member of the Dairy Farmers of America, which represents a third of U.S. dairy farmers as saying, "Our concern is they are so busy pointing fingers at each other they won't get down to business," he said.

"Hopefully, this motivates them to come together to work on a fix to the broken immigration laws," Ralph Broetje, a Washington state apple grower who employs more than 2,000 workers, the vast majority of them immigrants, told the Journal.

More than half of all field workers are undocumented, according to the U.S. Labor Department, and many farmer groups estimate the share to be higher than 70%.

Tom Nassif, president of Western Growers, an association that represents hundreds of farmers in California and Arizona, said that "preventing the implementation of executive actions alone is not enough," referring to GOP threats to scuttle Obama's plan. "These actions by the president should also serve as a catalyst for Congress to lead," he said, adding that U.S. agriculture is in jeopardy.

The Journal also hazards the conclusion that frustration is running so high that some farmers have started to withhold contributions from Republicans in elections. "I'm not giving any more to guys who haven't helped us," said one farmer, who told the Journal his politics are "very conservative."

Craig Regelbrugge, national co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, said, "I am personally aware of farmers and small-business people who would normally support Republicans but have ceased political contributions generally out of frustration over Congress' inability to find common ground and solve the problem."

Ideally, farmers say, a congressional fix would legalize undocumented field workers and encourage them to stay in agriculture, as well as include provisions to ensure a steady flow of seasonal workers who could enter and leave the country with relative ease. At the same time, most growers shun the current guest-worker program, known as H-2A, which they say involves multiple steps and a variety of federal agencies that make it expensive, bureaucratic and inefficient.

All told, the shrinking supply of workers is being held responsible for rising farm wages across the country. Mark Gilson, a nurseryman in Perry, Ohio, told the Journal that he still has had trouble finding enough workers for three years. Brenda Alford, a potato farmer in Pasco, Wash., said that a few years ago her family had to "plow out" 500 acres of asparagus. "The labor shortage hasn't gotten any better," she said.

In addition, the president's plan drew criticism for failing to put in place measures to discourage an exodus from agriculture among immigrants who benefit from relief. As the oil industry booms and construction recovers, those fields are likely to compete for the same workers, farmers say.

Perhaps the only thing that is really clear now is that the illegal immigration problem is complex, probably even more so than either side in the debate is willing to concede, and that virtually none of the current fixes is likely to come even close to solving the problem. Will the president get political credit for attempting to "do something" about the problem — and, will the use of executive authorities motivate Congress to work out a broader solution? No one can say, but the politics are explosive.

It is interesting to see the views of some of these salt-of-the-earth farm producers and business folk talking about hammering conservative groups to "finally consider the problem." Still, it's a long step from that to concrete efforts to work together to craft a durable immigration policy after all these years.

As can be seen, this is a high-stakes issue for producers which should be watched carefully as it evolves, Washington Insider believes.

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(GH/CZ)

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