Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with Congressman Frank Lucas about Waters of the U.S., the 2023 Farm Bill, and more.
“The Sackett v. EPA decision made a dramatic difference,” Lucas said. “Basically, what the Supreme Court ruled was that the federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency, could only interpret the rule in wetlands when they were ‘as a practical matter indistinguishable from the Waters of the U.S.’ So, they can’t go after the ponds, and they can’t go after the mudhole in your backyard. The federal government only has responsibility for waters that are navigable and are attached to waters that are navigable.”
After President Obama started the process of redefining WOTUS many years ago, then President Trump came in and instigated a rule change to try and undo what Obama had put through.
“Then, President Obama’s Vice-President, now President Biden comes in to go back down that path,” Lucas said. “So, a long, complicated struggle, but a really big step in the right direction from the Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA.”
With the actions that have taken place by the Supreme Court regarding the new WOTUS rule, Lucas said he does not believe the Biden Administration will attempt to try and make any more changes.
“They are not going to be able to pass a law that would undo the Supreme Court ruling,” Lucas said.
This new ruling, Lucas said, is a big win for those who care about private property rights and the state regulation of issues versus federal regulation.
Lucas also gave an update on the 2023 Farm Bill process.
“One of the most important things we had to do was pass a piece of legislation dealing not only with the debt ceiling but setting spending levels for the next few years,” Lucas said. “Until we knew how much money we would have available in the Farm Bill, we couldn’t really begin to write the meat of the bill. That legislation is now passed, and it has been signed into law.”
Lucas said he believes it is possible to finish the 2023 Farm Bill in 2023, but there are only a few weeks left in June to legislate, followed by a few weeks in July and then a traditional August work period.
“Then that brings us around to September, and we are starting to get down towards the end of the year,” Lucas said. “Do not be surprised, as has been the case in almost all the farm bills in recent history, if we wind up with an extension. But we are now on track, and I am hopeful.”
Lucas talked with Ron about the detailed steps that will need to take place to give farmers what they will need in this next farm bill, as he said he would rather have a one-year extension than have a weak Farm Bill for the next five years.
“If it helps facilitate a strong five-year Farm Bill, then yes, I will take an extension,” Lucas said. “After all, we got the ’14 Farm Bill literally two years after the previous bill was set to come to an end. We had to do the extensions, but it ultimately got us to the ’14 bill that became the base bill in ’18 that I believe will be the base bill then in 2023 or 2024, depending on what happens.”
As Lucas is also the Chair of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee in the 118th Conference, he said the main thing he is working on now is the reauthorization of the weather app.
“That is the primary focus for the National Weather Service,” Lucas said.
