WOTUS rears its ugly head, again
So two weeks ago the president told us that the greatest threat to the United States is systemic racism. Last week he told the Europeans that the greatest threat to the U.S. is climate change.
That brings about another topic that is not popular with the agricultural producers. Remember WOTUS or the Waters of the United States? But it was wildly applauded by environmentalists.
WOTUS was devised by the Obama Administration under the Clean Water Act but was changed to Navigable Waters Protection rule under the Trump Administration because the previous regulations were not clear and were considered overreaching.
Let’s hope that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, who said he didn’t want to return to the parameters of the WOTUS will keep that pledge and that farmers and ranchers will be part of the stakeholder groups involved in crafting the new regulations.
“After reviewing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule as directed by President Biden, the EPA and Department of the Army have determined that this rule is leading to significant environmental degradation,” Regan said in a press release. “We are committed to establishing a durable definition of ‘waters of the United States’ based on Supreme Court precedent and drawing from the lessons learned from the current and previous regulations, as well as input from a wide array of stakeholders, so we can better protect our nation’s waters, foster economic growth, and support thriving communities.”
All I have to say is hang on folks it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
The good news is that a federal judge in Wisconsin has ordered USDA to at least temporarily halt as much as $4 billion in loan debt relief payments to minority farmers in response to a lawsuit filed by white farmers who were not eligible for the same debt relief.
I was listening to a radio program the other day and the host said that fighting racism with racism is not the right way to deal with the issue. I have to agree.
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