STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension Educator

     I talked fleetingly last week about the recently released rule proposal that could vastly expand the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority over farm and ranch operations. I think we need to take a closer look at this new rule this week and perhaps try to make it a little clearer. First of all, I do know that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says the proposed new Clean Water Act will not require farmers to obtain new permits and further suggests that farming practices that do not currently require permits will not need them when the rule becomes law. Their position is that the rule's only goal is to clarify, not to impose greater authority.  However a lot of people including several large farm organizations disagree with that “promise”!  Not only is their suspicion of the EPA based on past activities, but of current activities that seem to favor extreme environmentalists and language that comes out of the department that is not conducive to conventional farms.
     Farmers Push Back on New EPA Rule: According to studies conducted by their lawyers and policy experts they feel that this proposal could have far reaching implications that would allow the EPA to tell farmers and ranchers what they can and can't do on their own land! They believe that this rule could have serious consequences as this authority would give EPA the power to require farmers and ranchers to have a permit for things like applying manure, fertilizer or pesticides; possibly even planting seeds; and even activities as commonplace and essential to farming as building a fence - but more frightening, the ability to deny a permit for them to do these things on their own land. To many farm organizations and farmers that have read this rule, it seems that is more about EPA controlling land use and taking away private property rights! 
     EPA says its new rule will reduce uncertainty, and that much seems to be true: there isn’t much uncertainty if most every feature where water flows or stands after a rainfall is federally regulated. 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.  In reality - this rule would give them the ability to claim federal authority over land where water pools or flows only during precipitation events (i.e. areas that are not wetlands or do not normally flow unless it is raining/snow melt). Think of all the fields where after a rain or snow melt that either pools or water runs!
     Furthermore, under this proposed rule, farmers, ranchers and every other landowner across the countryside could face a tremendous new roadblock to ordinary land use activities as described above. This is not just about the paperwork of getting a permit to farm, or even about having farming practices regulated. The fact is there is no legal right to a Clean Water Act permit – if farming or ranching activities need a permit, EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers can deny that permit. That’s why Clean Water Act jurisdiction over farmlands really amounts to nothing less than federal veto power over a farmer’s ability to farm. In short, the feeling is that the EPA has moved ahead with a proposal that Congress and the Supreme Court have determined goes well beyond the agency's authority. That is why we all should be concerned.
     EPA accompanied its proposal with a new ‘interpretive rule’ claiming to clarify certain statutory exemptions for agricultural conservation practices, including activities as commonplace and essential to farming as I mentioned earlier -- building a fence. But these exemptions apply only to ‘dredge and fill’ permit requirements. They do not protect farmers from federal veto power over pest and weed control, fertilizer application, and other essential farming activities that may result in the addition of ‘pollutants’ to ‘navigable waters,’ – providing one views every ditch and wet spot across the landscape as ‘navigable waters.’ I have a tendency to agree with the opposition on this issue as this “clarification” is troubling to me.
     The public-comment period for the proposed rule begins as soon as it is posted in the federal register! The proposal will be open for public comment for 90 days. You can read the act at this site: http://www2.epa.gov/uswaters/definition-waters-united-states-under-clean-water-act  . I participated in a webinar this week that I thought gave a very good explanation on the concerns that are levied against this new proposed EPA rule. The webinar was recorded and archived and can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhUMrHLmwo4  . It will be worth your time to watch and learn. Once again, be sure to study up on this and then use your rights as a citizen to give your comments towards this new rule!  
     Feds to Target Cows for Methane Reduction: While we are on the subject of the EPA, let’s look at something else that I found interesting if not laughable. This administration and the EPA is targeting the dairy and beef industry to reduce methane emissions in their operation, an issue that has long drawn criticism of the agriculture industry from environmentalists. Some of these methane emissions come from cow flatulence, exhaling and belching. That is what is comical to me. This comes despite falling methane emission levels across the economy since 1990.The White House has proposed cutting methane emissions from the dairy and beef industry by 25 percent by 2020. Although U.S. agriculture only accounts for a small amount of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, all domestic animal types, beef and dairy cattle were by far the largest emitters of methane, according (of course) to an EPA analysis charting greenhouse gas emissions in 2012. While it is true that cows and other animals produce methane through digestion, which ferments the food of animals, I think that this is just one more form of overreach and most likely a knee jerk reaction –to environmentalist pressure and to a new report put out by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which of course is really all about global warming! While this could lead to further problems, right now these proposals for curbing gas emitted by livestock strictly on voluntary measures that are largely already under way! But keep watch! Oh, do try to keep those cows from flatulating and belching!

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home