The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is trying to stop the ‘Waters of the United States’ or Clean Water Rule from being implemented. NCBA has been fighting ‘WOTUS’ on Capitol Hill and they have also filed lawsuits to stop the regulation from being implemented in August. Speaking at the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Convention, NCBA Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts said they are attacking this regulation on multiple fronts.
In June, there was hope that the U.S. House would take up the interior appropriations bill that would not allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce the final ‘WOTUS’ rule. Butts said unfortunately that bill was pulled from the floor, so now negotiations are taking place on a spending bill beyond this fiscal year. She said there is also standalone legislation that has passed the House, and opponents to the Clean Water Rule are looking for similar opportunities in the Senate to move that legislation forward, but time is quickly passing by. After the August recess, Butts said there are only eight to ten days that Congress will be back in session before the end of the fiscal year.
“We really need to move forward on the ‘WOTUS’ front sooner rather than later,” Butts said. “And again it’s the Senate, looking for opportunities there to move that forward in the Senate.”
NCBA is also involved with in litigation with EPA and Army Corps of Engineers. NCBA has joined a broad coalition to stop the implementation of this rule. NCBA has been joined by the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Pork Producers Council and Public Lands Council, along with other producer and land use groups in filing litigation. The coalition has filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the EPA and Army Corps over the ‘WOTUS’ final rule. Butts said obviously this tactic will require many years and thousands of dollars.
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