Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is continuing his conversation with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Counsel Mary-Thomas Hart about WOTUS or “Waters of the United States.” WOTUS is a term used in the Clean Water Act (CWA) to define which bodies of water are subject to federal regulation. To listen to part one of the discussion where they were talking about how recent Supreme Court decisions may impact the new Trump Administration, click here.
Hart responded positively when she said, “I hope we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. As far as rulemakings go, I think we are in a good place. Now, the Biden Administration and the Biden EPA reacted, kind of, out of spite after the Sackett decision. They implemented the rule that they were required to implement but then sent out some internal guidance to staff across the country instructing them to take a pretty aggressive approach to implementing WOTUS. Staff across the country did that.”
Hart hopes that the new Trump administration will rein in those aggressive guidance initiatives to ensure the behavior of EPA staff across the country aligns with the true intent of the Sackett v. EPA decision.
Additionally, Hart expects the EPA to adjust its response on other fronts concerning things like herbicides, pesticides, and rodenticides.
NCBA will also be watching the action of the Department of Health and Human Services to monitor rules and regulations regarding feed, additives, antibiotics, and more.
“Our goal is to ensure that we don’t have RFK [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.] trying to simultaneously run the EPA or USDA while he’s running HHS,” Hart said. “He made some statements in his confirmation hearing that I think were promising. I think he understands the value of agriculture and farmers and ranchers to our economy, culture, and country. We see it as an opportunity to work with this FDA and this HHS to ensure that whole foods, like beef, are given the place that they deserve on the plate if we are thinking about things like dietary guidelines or school nutrition.”
She emphasized the importance of maintaining the structures that were created within the federal government and the reasons they were created, by preventing overreach from other departments.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
