Clean Water Act
At Trump’s direction, U.S. reduces upstream reach of clean water law
Decrying what it called regulatory overreach, the Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will limit enforcement of clean water laws to oceans, rivers, core tributaries, and adjacent wetlands. Environmentalists said the move would leave half of U.S. wetlands and millions of miles of streams without protection from pollution.
JBS, under fire for taking Trump’s tariff bailout, is accused of polluting a Colorado river
In a new lawsuit, environmental advocates say a Colorado beef-packing plant owned by JBS has been dumping polluted wastewater into a river for years. The suit comes as the Brazilian company is under fire for taking millions in President Trump's tariff bailout payments. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Trump announces plan to roll back WOTUS rule
President Trump announced a plan to roll back Obama-era clean water regulations that aimed to protect rivers and streams from agricultural runoff and other pollutants. It will remove vast wetlands and thousands of miles of waterways from federal protection.
Tyson ordered to pay $2 million in fish kill fine
Tyson Poultry will pay a $2-million criminal fine for polluting a stream near its southwest Missouri plant. The pollution killed an estimated 108,000 fish.
Iowa’s water quality suffers without a fix in sight
More than 200 of Iowa’s community water systems struggle with agricultural runoff, periodically issuing “Do Not Drink” orders because of high levels of nitrates. “The good news is that researchers have a pretty good handle on how to solve Iowa’s water problem,” reports Elizabeth Royte in FERN’s latest story, with National Geographic. (No paywall)
Vermont’s approach to farm pollution seen as a national model
From Vermont’s Lake Champlain to rivers in California, waterways are being overloaded with nutrient pollution running off farms. But Vermont took an approach to cleaning up its waterways that could well serve as a model for other states, especially now that the federal government is in regulatory retreat in the Trump era, writes Paul Greenberg in FERN’s latest story with Eating Well magazine.
Two House committee chairs call for dismissal of wetlands lawsuit
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.
Storm Lake Times wins Pulitzer for editorials challenging Big Ag in Iowa
Art Cullen, co-owner of the Storm Lake Times, published twice a week in northwestern Iowa, won the Pulitzer Prize "for editorials fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa." The editorials criticized county officials for letting agricultural interests dictate their response to a lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works over nutrient runoff and held agriculture responsible for polluted waters.
Supreme Court won’t let go of WOTUS case
Although President Trump has signed an executive order to roll back the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, the Supreme Court decided that it will continue hearing a legal challenge of the 2015 EPA rule. Justices denied a Justice Department request to halt work on the case while the administration decides whether to rewrite or rescind the rule, said E&E News.
Judge dismisses Des Moines Water Works lawsuit
A U.S. district judge rejected the legal underpinnings of the Des Moines Water Works' lawsuit that sought to hold drainage districts in northwestern Iowa responsible for nutrient runoff from farms. The judge dismissed the case, ending the chances for a precedent-setting interpretation of clean-water laws. Agricultural runoff generally is exempt from the water pollution laws, but the Des Moines utility argued that the drainage districts were identifiable "point" sources of pollution and should be required to meet clean-water standards.
Legislation in Iowa would dismantle Des Moines Water Works
The Des Moines Water Works won national attention with its lawsuit to force regulation of nutrient runoff from farms. Now, the Republican-controlled Iowa House is considering a bill to dismantle the Water Works board and replace it with a regional utility, says Iowa Public Radio.
EPA begins work immediately to replace WOTUS
As promised by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, the administration immediately began work to replace the Waters of the United States rule that was a target of President Trump's campaign. On the same day that Trump signed an executive order to roll back WOTUS, Pruitt signed a Federal Register notice of "intention to review and rescind or revise" WOTUS.
Salmon groups urge Trump’s EPA to protect fish against climate change
Pacific Northwest fishing and conservation groups have filed suit against the EPA for not doing more to protect wild sockeye salmon from rising water temperatures due in large part to climate change. The lawsuit is considered to be the first against President Trump's EPA.
All EPA activities will be tethered to law, says new chief Pruitt
The new EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, who sued the agency 14 times while a state attorney general, told employees they will be "tethered to the statute" when writing regulations or enforcing them, with no allowance for shortcuts or stretches of authority. During a 12-minute speech to staffers during his first day on the job, Pruitt said EPA will avoid "abuses that occur sometimes," such as "using the guidance process to do regulation" and "regulation in litigation."
Trump signs repeal of Obama’s stream-protection rule
Completing a two-week legislative sprint by Republicans, President Trump signed a resolution that repeals a stream-protection rule issued by the Obama administration to restrict pollution near streams and require more restoration of riparian land.
Trump’s two-for-one plan to weed out regulations
Federal agencies are under orders from President Donald Trump, who campaigned against bureaucratic red tape and its burden on businesses, to identify at least two existing regulations for elimination every time they issue a new regulation. The USDA had no comment on which rules it might drop.
Pull out the roots of over-regulation, Farm Bureau chief tells Trump
Rural America was key to electing Donald Trump as president and it wants him to prevent over-regulation from growing back like a weed, said the president of the largest U.S. farm organization on the opening day of the group's annual convention. The American Farm Bureau Federation's Zippy Duvall also told reporters that the Trump team knows producers are frustrated by the lack of a nominee for agriculture secretary.
Forceful Trump to press regulatory relief first, say farm policy hands
The Trump administration will focus on regulatory relief in its early days in office, said two farm-policy hands, who pointed to EPA's Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule as a prime example of federal over-reach. Chuck Conner, of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, said President-elect Trump will be forceful in rolling back regulations, and Dale Moore, of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the regulatory burden saps farmers' bottom lines.
Half of river water comes from intermittent streams, say researchers
As a result of the Supreme Court decision on the upstream reach of antipollution laws, half of the water in U.S. rivers comes from so-called ephemeral streams that are now without federal protection, said researchers from the University of Massachusetts and Yale on Thursday.