California farmer John Duarte, the poster boy for farm groups complaining of federal over-regulation of wetlands, has high-powered supporters in Congress who are appealing for the government to drop its long-running case against him. The Republican chairmen of the House Agriculture and Judiciary committees wrote Attorney General Jeff Sessions to argue that the case against Duarte is unfounded.
Groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation cast the issue as “whether farming is a violation of federal law.” Duarte’s lawyers, hoping the Trump administration would be more amenable than Obama-era officials, met Justice department officials in early May in hopes of settling the matter, said E&E News.
Duarte, of Modesto, faces up to $35 million in fines and the cost of buying mitigation credits in the dispute over planting wheat on 450 acres that he purchased in 2012. The tract includes 22 acres of vernal pools, which are seasonal wet areas that provide wildlife habitat. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of the agencies that enforces clean water laws, issued a cease-and-desist order, setting off a round of litigation.
In June 2016, U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller rejected Duarte’s argument that the tillage was covered by an exemption from Clean Water Act regulation for routine agricultural operations. The judge said the land laid idle for at least 20 years, so Duarte was bringing new land into production. The government says vernal pools are waters under federal jurisdiction.
In their letter, Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway and Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte said the Justice department misunderstood congressional intent behind the exemption for farmers. “Specifically, it is the Agriculture Committee’s view that even occasional farming activities, including grazing, qualify as ‘normal’ farming under the statutory exemption, and also are part of an established operation for purposes of the exemption. Further, it is the committee’s view that the activity at issue in this case constitute(s) plowing for the purposes of the exemption,” they told Sessions.
To read the chairmen’s letter to Sessions, click here.