Back
Jun 28, 2017
With an announcement yesterday from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it would formally repeal the Waters of the United States rule, the American Soybean Association (ASA) hailed what it called a significant step toward greater regulatory certainty for soybean farmers. ASA released the following statement from Vice President and Iowa farmer John Heisdorffer on EPA’s withdrawal of the rule:
“Soybean farmers have been watching the Waters of the U.S. rule since its unveiling in 2015 as an unfortunate example of the positive goal of clean water obstructed by unworkable and impractical federal regulation. Farmers cannot operate without clean water, and each of us takes his or her role as a steward of that resource very seriously. The WOTUS rule, however, subjected the creeks and streams and ditches that crisscross our operations under an overly broad, one-size-fits-all regulatory definition that made no sense for our individual farms. We are happy to see the rule withdrawn, and the action this week from EPA is a significant step toward greater regulatory certainty for soybean farmers. We look forward to sitting down with Administrator Pruitt and his team at EPA to help build a practical and workable plan to safeguard water quality in our nation’s growing regions.”
