The federal shutdown continues to interrupt trade prog ress and uproot soil conser vation employees................3
Pa l m e r a m a r a n t h m a y b e lurking in Illinois fields, prompting management tips from U of I specialists............5
C e l eb r a t i n g f a l l t a ke s o n new meaning at The Great P u m p k i n Pa t c h , m a r k i n g 2 5 years of success......................8
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‘New’ EPA report signal of renewed agency push? Illinois Farm Bureau mission: Improve the economic well-being of agriculture and enrich the quality of farm family life.
Monday, October 14, 2013
BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
Two sections Volume 41, No. 41
A newly released U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report may signal renewed efforts by the agency to redefine “waters of the U.S.” and gain broad new federal powers over ag and other watershed activities. The preliminary report re-interprets past data and conclusions regarding “conductivity” between headwaters, wetlands, streams and major waterways currently under EPA’s scope. It is intended to guide development of a rule, now under administration Office of Management and Budget review, that would clarify the federal Clean Water Act’s role in protecting so-called “waters of the United States.” EPA concluded all streams are connected to downstream waters, as are wetlands and open waters in floodplains or natural riparian areas adjacent to streams and rivers connected to downstream waters through groundwa-
ter or overland flows. EPA reported insufficient data was available to reach a conclusion regarding isolated wetlands and open waters outside riparian areas. “They don’t quite have the science there to conclude that you’re sharing those waters. It’s a little more complicated,” said Illinois Farm Bureau Director of Natural and Environmental Resources Lauren Lurkins. Lurkins argued EPA’s “scientific literature review,” drafted in response to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have raised questions about federal regulatory waters, offers no new information. She plans to submit comments on the ag implications of EPA’s forthcoming proposals, suggesting the review “doesn’t go far enough to really inform policymaking.” “There needs to be some kind of established methodology for figuring out when there’s a significant nexus between navigable and non-navigable waters,” the policy specialist and envi-
ronmental attorney advised. “Everything that’s connected hydrologically should not be regulated by EPA. That’s what Congress said when it came out with the Clean Water Act in the ’70s. EPA can’t just broaden its jurisdiction through a rulemaking procedure.” That didn’t stop environmental and sportsmen’s groups last week from hailing EPA’s conclusions as proof of what Trouts Unlimited research scientist Helen Neville termed the “physical, chemical and biological connections between headwater streams and downstream water bodies.” “We must consider the collective impact of those streams,” said Neville, arguing they have “enormous effects on downstream waters and ecosystems.” University of Wisconsin restoration ecologist Joy Zedler decried the purported loss of some 80 percent of original wetlands across Iowa, Illinois,
Indiana and Ohio, “where soil that wetland plants would have stabilized is now somewhere deep in the Gulf of Mexico.” She linked wetlands/riparian preservation as well to flood and carbon sequestration. Lurkins participated in discussion of the EPA draft report with the Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC), a group of ag and other interests including American Farm Bureau Federation. A Denver consulting firm currently is dissecting the 300-plus-page report to determine its real-world relevance to federal water protections. The document will be refined into a final report by an independent science panel. Lurkins noted the independent panel has not been asked to review EPA’s proposed rule, despite it being based on report data. “WAC’s consultants are looking at how — or whether — we can use this data to inform policymakers,” she advised.
Barge fee hike offers ‘tremendous efficiency gain’
Periodicals: Time Valued
A major Midwest ag coop/commodity shipper is willing to pay a bit more of the freight to maintain a U.S. edge in the global marketplace. In a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Ranking Republican Sander Levin, D-Mich., Illinois Farm Bureau and GROWMARK joined ag and other industry
groups stressing the “urgent need” for a 6- to 9-cent hike in the current 20-cent-per-gallon barge diesel fuel tax. Barge taxes feed the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF), which matches federal appropriations for navigational construction and rehabilitation, but IWTF reserves continue to wane at current tax levels. Neither Senate nor House transportation committees included a fee increase in waterway proposals, instead passing the measure to Ways and Means, which faces political concerns about passing even a voluntary tax hike. A mere 300 commercial operators would pay higher barge fees, “while the entire nation benefits, (including) hydropower, municipal water supply, recreational boating and fishing, flood control, national security and waterfront property development,” IFB and others told Camp and Levin. For agriculture’s part, Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK executive director for corporate/government relations, argues a tax hike “is where we can get a
return on investment.” The fall shutdown of even one lock due to structural or equipment failure poses a “catastrophic loss to our marketplace,” Spencer said. Barge diversion could cause a bottle-
neck in rail and highway “grain flows,” and disruption of the river grain bid system “takes a player out of the system,” likely dinging farm commodity prices, he suggested. But he also sees a trust fund
A HILL OF BEANS
re-infusion offering hope for modern new locks on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi Rivers. He noted the fuel and personnel costs of a barge See Fee, page 3
Soybeans flow from a combine operated by Carl Reum near Sibley in Ford County. Dennis Tongate of Gibson City handles tarp duty on the waiting semi-truck. Reum noted conditions were extremely dry in the field throughout summer. Yields were averaging 50 bushels per acre. See harvest story on page 9. (Photo by Ken Kashian)
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