Rural fight looms over Clean Water Act guidance
By JERRY HAGSTROM
Signaling a battle within rural America, a coalition of hunting and fishing groups has announced they support the Obama administration’s Clean Water Act guidance on streams and wetlands, while some farm and ranch leaders and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., criticized the proposal.
Addressing confusion created by two Supreme Court decisions over what waters are regulated under the Clean Water Act, the administration announced last week that small streams and wetlands that have a “physical, chemical or biological connection” to larger bodies of water downstream would be included. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack participated in the announcement, saying the guidance maintains existing exemptions for agricultural and forestry activities, “thereby providing farmers, ranchers and forest landowners with certainty that current agricultural and forestry activities can continue.”
The guidance will be subject to a 60-day comment period.
Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership said in a joint April 27 statement that the measure “would begin restoring longstanding protections for many of the nation’s wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters.”
The groups said the waters have been vulnerable to pollution and destruction since the SWANCC (2001) and Rapanos (2006) Supreme Court decisions.
“Decisions in the two Supreme Court cases and agency guidance issued in 2003 and 2008 jeopardize crucial water resources and wildlife habitat,” the groups said. “Taken together, they removed protections for at least 20 million acres of wetlands, particularly prairie potholes and other seasonal wetlands essential to waterfowl populations throughout the country. Intermittent streams that provide critical habitat for fish, especially trout, and feed into the public drinking water systems for more than 117 million Americans also are at risk.”
“This confusion led to lost protections for some of our nation’s most important waters, which could have significant consequences for wetland conservation, particularly in areas important for breeding and migratory waterfowl,” said Scott Yaich, director of conservation operations for Ducks Unlimited. “Clear guidance could go a long way toward restoring wetland protections important to our nation’s waterfowl and waterfowl hunters.”
“The importance of this guidance cannot be overstated,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government relations for Trout Unlimited. “Restoring these lost protections means more habitat in the long run for all the fish and wildlife that sportsmen love to pursue.”
“We are pleased the administration has taken this crucial first step to provide clarity to landowners, conservationists and businesses regarding waters of the United States,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “This action has been taken with no expansion of federal reach but simply restoring protections Congress originally put in place. This not only will conserve healthy habitat and water quality; it also will safeguard and support the sporting traditions that tens of millions of Americans enjoy.”
“The administration’s proposal is balanced and reasonable,” said Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America. “It restores traditional Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands while clearly retaining exemptions from the act for farming, ranching and logging.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Corn Growers Association and Crop Life America expressed concerns about the expansion of EPA’s authority.
Lucas said in a news release that the guidance “will undeniably expand the regulatory scope and federal jurisdiction over waterways. This guidance builds a foundation for the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to regulate any body of water such as a farm pond or even a ditch.”
The hunting and fishing groups contend that the guidance “generally excludes roadside ditches, gullies or small washes from coverage under the Clean Water Act, and does not apply to ponds and other ornamental bodies of water constructed by excavating dry land.”
Lucas noted that he had joined 169 of his colleagues in a letter urging EPA not to issue the guidance. Lucas said guidance is informal and confusing and that changes to implementation of the Clean Water Act should be done through formal regulation.
Signaling a battle within rural America, a coalition of hunting and fishing groups has announced they support the Obama administration’s Clean Water Act guidance on streams and wetlands, while some farm and ranch leaders and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., criticized the proposal.
Addressing confusion created by two Supreme Court decisions over what waters are regulated under the Clean Water Act, the administration announced last week that small streams and wetlands that have a “physical, chemical or biological connection” to larger bodies of water downstream would be included. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack participated in the announcement, saying the guidance maintains existing exemptions for agricultural and forestry activities, “thereby providing farmers, ranchers and forest landowners with certainty that current agricultural and forestry activities can continue.”
The guidance will be subject to a 60-day comment period.
Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership said in a joint April 27 statement that the measure “would begin restoring longstanding protections for many of the nation’s wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters.”
The groups said the waters have been vulnerable to pollution and destruction since the SWANCC (2001) and Rapanos (2006) Supreme Court decisions.
“Decisions in the two Supreme Court cases and agency guidance issued in 2003 and 2008 jeopardize crucial water resources and wildlife habitat,” the groups said. “Taken together, they removed protections for at least 20 million acres of wetlands, particularly prairie potholes and other seasonal wetlands essential to waterfowl populations throughout the country. Intermittent streams that provide critical habitat for fish, especially trout, and feed into the public drinking water systems for more than 117 million Americans also are at risk.”
“This confusion led to lost protections for some of our nation’s most important waters, which could have significant consequences for wetland conservation, particularly in areas important for breeding and migratory waterfowl,” said Scott Yaich, director of conservation operations for Ducks Unlimited. “Clear guidance could go a long way toward restoring wetland protections important to our nation’s waterfowl and waterfowl hunters.”
“The importance of this guidance cannot be overstated,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government relations for Trout Unlimited. “Restoring these lost protections means more habitat in the long run for all the fish and wildlife that sportsmen love to pursue.”
“We are pleased the administration has taken this crucial first step to provide clarity to landowners, conservationists and businesses regarding waters of the United States,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “This action has been taken with no expansion of federal reach but simply restoring protections Congress originally put in place. This not only will conserve healthy habitat and water quality; it also will safeguard and support the sporting traditions that tens of millions of Americans enjoy.”
“The administration’s proposal is balanced and reasonable,” said Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America. “It restores traditional Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands while clearly retaining exemptions from the act for farming, ranching and logging.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Corn Growers Association and Crop Life America expressed concerns about the expansion of EPA’s authority.
Lucas said in a news release that the guidance “will undeniably expand the regulatory scope and federal jurisdiction over waterways. This guidance builds a foundation for the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to regulate any body of water such as a farm pond or even a ditch.”
The hunting and fishing groups contend that the guidance “generally excludes roadside ditches, gullies or small washes from coverage under the Clean Water Act, and does not apply to ponds and other ornamental bodies of water constructed by excavating dry land.”
Lucas noted that he had joined 169 of his colleagues in a letter urging EPA not to issue the guidance. Lucas said guidance is informal and confusing and that changes to implementation of the Clean Water Act should be done through formal regulation.
