As many in farm country know, the Biden Administration is looking at returning to the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. Rule, better known as WOTUS. Dan Newhouse, chair of the Western Caucus, said such a move would not only devastate the Ag industry, but it would also be very unpopular. Newhouse said he recently crafted a letter, which has been signed by over 200 members of the House, saying the current rules and regulations put in place by the Trump Administration are more than sufficient.

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“The WOTUS policies are definitely one of the most dangerous, far reaching, egregious, over regulatory efforts that we’ve ever seen in this country.  Some of the states across the country are talking about, and Washington state is no different, would have up to 90% of their agricultural land under federal regulation because of this overreach by the Biden Administration.”

Newhouse added WOTUS does not lend itself to a strong economy, creates a lot of uncertainty. He pointed out that farmers would need permission from the federal government to plow a field or rotate their crops.

Newhouse stressed farmers need to be able to make the decisions that are best for their operation, allowing them to be profitable. And it’s not just lawmakers who oppose a return to WOTUS.

“I’m very happy that we have organizations from around the state, you mentioned Farm Bureau, [we also have] Cattlemen, the Columbia Basin Development League, the NFIB, the Potato industry, Washington Policy Center, the Wine Grape Growers Association, up and down the line, a wide range of industry organizations, that are saying we want certainty in our ability to operate our businesses, we think the current regulations are sufficient.”

Click Here to read that letter sent to the EPA.

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