Agricultural News
Farm Bureau: More Maps Show how EPA's Overreach Imperils U.S. Agriculture, Housing and Industry
Thu, 03 Sep 2015 15:54:56 CDT
The American Farm Bureau Federation today released still more maps that show how the Environmental Protection Agency intends to radically expand its jurisdiction over land use via the newly issued Waters of the United States rule. Implementation of the rule in at least 13 states was recently halted by a court in North Dakota pending further hearings.
The maps prepared by Geosyntec Consulting show the dramatic expansion of EPA's regulatory reach across wide swaths of land in Missouri, Oklahoma, New York and Wisconsin.
Nearly all of the states' total acreage would fall under EPA scrutiny. Landowners have no reliable way to know which of the water and land within that area will be regulated, yet they must still conform their activities to the new law.
"The EPA's new rule places farmers in the agency's crosshairs for using the same safe, scientifically sound and federally approved crop protection tools they've used for years," AFBF President Bob Stallman said. "This rule creates a new set of tools for harassing farmers in court, and does it all with language that is disturbingly vague and subject to abuse by future regulators. It's worth saying again: The EPA needs to withdraw this rule and start over."
Maps detailing EPA's overreach in Missouri, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin can be found by clicking here.
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