With Launch of WOTUS Campaign

In October, NCBA launched a Waters of the United States (WOTUS) campaign aimed at developing fair, clear rules for cattle producers. While producers may have thought the WOTUS issue was behind them, court rulings and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcements over the past few months have demonstrated that water rules are once again a focus in Washington, D.C.

“Due to a recent court ruling that vacated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) — a rule that protected farmers and ranchers — the EPA is justifying the development of a new WOTUS rule,” said NCBA Chief Environmental Counsel Scott Yager. “NCBA is a leading voice urging the EPA to respect the needs of cattle producers and craft a rule that limits federal authority over common agricultural practices.”

The limits of federal water regulation have been hotly contested since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, involving numerous rulemakings and Supreme Court cases. In 2015, the EPA created a widely overreaching definition that subjected nearly every water feature — including isolated features and areas that only held rainwater — to federal jurisdiction. Some of the common water features that fell under the 2015 WOTUS rule included grassed waterways, prairie potholes, rainwater, snowmelt, small creeks, dry washes, drainage ditches, isolated wetlands, vernal pools, coastal prairie wetlands, pocosins, any waters within a 100 year floodplain, and any waters within 4,000 feet of a high tide line or ordinary high water mark.

“While the 2015 rule may have sounded good to a bureaucrat in Washington, it did not hold up to common sense out in the country,” Yager said. “A feature that you can step over or a field that only has water when it rains should not be regulated by the federal government.”

During the Trump administration, cattle producers saw relief from the onerous 2015 WOTUS rule with the finalization of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR). The NWPR limited the definition of a WOTUS to substantial bodies of water, like oceans, large lakes, tributaries that run during a typical year or seasonally, and adjoining wetlands. While the NWPR was not perfect, it was substantially better than the 2015 WOTUS rule. NCBA supported the NWPR and intervened in several court cases to uphold it before it was struck down by a U.S. District Court in Arizona.

Yager noted that the Arizona court decision created even more confusion for cattle producers who had already lived through the 2015 and 2020 rulemaking attempts.

“Immediately after the court decision, the EPA took the opportunity to apply the ruling on a nationwide scale, reverting back to the 1986 definition of WOTUS,” he said. “In the span of just over five years, cattle farmers and ranchers have experienced three different WOTUS definitions under the law.”

Even before the Arizona court decision, the Biden administration had announced their intention to repeal the Trump era rule and create their own WOTUS definition.

“We were pleased to see cattle producers share their views with the EPA when the agency launched WOTUS listening sessions over the summer,” Yager said. “Sadly, our producers were outnumbered by activist groups who have historically favored an oversized definition of WOTUS.”

In October, the EPA announced a process for hosting regional WOTUS roundtables. The catch? Stakeholders like individual state affiliates or conservation groups were asked to propose an entire plan to the EPA for how they would host a roundtable that includes agriculture, conservation, development, water management, environmental justice, and industry groups. Yager pointed out that placing the burden on stakeholders to plan the roundtable and create the guest list is the EPA shirking responsibility. “If you are a state cattlemen’s association, imagine trying to get environmental justice activists, conservation groups, developers, and industry groups to sit at one table. These groups fundamentally oppose each other and yet the EPA is asking ranchers and farmers to call a meeting with activists that do not believe our way of life should even exist,” Yager said.

To ensure that cattle producers’ voices are included in the WOTUS conversation, NCBA launched a multiphased campaign aimed squarely at the EPA and the Biden administration. The first phase of the plan is a sign on a letter asking EPA Administrator Michael Regan to support clean water and clear rules for cattle producers. The letter urges the EPA to focus their jurisdiction on “traditionally navigable waters,” or water one could fit a boat in, rather than the small stock ponds or ditches found on agricultural operations.

“In just three weeks, more than 1,000 cattle producers signed the letter, demonstrating their passion for this issue and sending a strong message to the EPA,” Yager said. “Our goal is to increase this number to truly show the EPA that the cattle industry is united on WOTUS.”

The letter to the EPA is only the first phase of NCBA’s WOTUS campaign. NCBA is also looking for producers who are willing to discuss the good conservation work they do to protect water quality without the need for overburdensome federal regulation. NCBA is writing producer profiles that will explain to policymakers how new WOTUS rules impact long time agricultural practices, and a personal story from a cattle farmer or rancher is extremely important for helping government officials understand that their decisions impact the livelihood of farm and ranch families.

“If you want to fight back against WOTUS, we need to hear from you,” Yager said. “I can tell policymakers every day that our industry will be impacted by their decisions, but we need producers to stand up and prove that point.”

Joining the WOTUS fight is easy. Simply email Scott Yager at syager@beef. org or Mary-Thomas Hart at mhart@beef. org to discuss how you can be involved. To read and sign the WOTUS letter to the EPA, please visit www.ncba.org/policy.

“NCBA has told the EPA that we need a WOTUS solution that works for cattle producers,” Yager said. “Now is the time to engage on this issue; sign our letter to the EPA, and share your story to protect not only your own operation, but the future of our industry.”

To tell the EPA to support Clean Water and Clear Rules, visit https://p2a. co/SGLLCiD.