Pennsylvania Farm Bureau applauds new Navigable Waters Protection Rule

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) applauded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for developing a new rule that clarifies what bodies of water and land masses are subject to federal regulation.

The Navigable Waters Protection Rule revises the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.

“The new water rule establishes that most ditches and typically dry land, including land that is sometimes wet (such as ephemeral features), would not be subject to federal jurisdiction, while permanent waterways, such as lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, would be subject to federal oversight,” PFB President Rick Ebert said. “The rule should help remove confusion over whether regulatory jurisdiction falls under the responsibility of the state or federal government.”

PFB also cited Pennsylvania’s existing state regulations and noted that the new rule does not make any changes to the standards or enforcement of the national Safe Drinking Water Act.

“Clean water and healthy soil are top priorities among farmers across the state and the nation,” Ebert said. “We undertake proactive and voluntary measures to conserve resources and implement multiple practices on the farm to keep nutrients from entering waterways.

PFB said that it hopes the Navigable Waters Protection Rule will be easier for farmers and other stakeholders to understand.

“Many farmers expressed concerns over the confusing and vague language included in the previous WOTUS rule, which would have provided government agencies with unprecedented power to regulate farms,” Ebert said. “Farmers specifically pointed to a study which concluded that WOTUS would have subjected nearly all of Pennsylvania’s land mass to federal regulation.”