Waters Advocacy Coalition

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council: America’s Farmers and Ranchers Oppose Federal Land Grab

The Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) would grant the federal government sweeping new regulatory authority to infringe on private-property rights. It amounts to nothing less than a giant federal land grab and would be disastrous to U.S. agriculture. A vote for this bill is a vote against agriculture.

This bill is unnecessary and unjustifiable, and sets a dangerous precedent towards the continuing erosion of our fundamental constitutional rights as American citizens. No compromise or exemption will cover all of the farm and ranch situations in the U.S. To protect agriculture, “navigable” must remain as the defining term for federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.

Some environmentalists say that removing the word “navigable” would restore the original intent of Congress when it passed the Clean Water Act. This is far from the truth. The fact is, the word navigable is included in the CWA statute over 80 times. Since Congress does not usually include such important terms by accident, it is clear that navigability was the intended boundary of authority at the time of Clean Water Act passage. In addition, contrary to environmentalist claims, recent Supreme Court cases that define federal jurisdiction to include waters that are connected to navigable waters and those that have a “significant nexus” to navigable waters are an expansion of federal jurisdiction beyond the scope of Clean Water Act statutory authority to regulate navigable waters, not a contraction of that authority.

Under current law, the federal government has jurisdiction over ‘navigable waters of the United States.’ But by removing the word ‘navigable’ from the definition, the CWRA would expand federal regulatory control to unprecedented levels – essentially putting stock tanks, drainage ditches, and any puddle or water feature found on family farms and ranches across this country under the regulatory strong-arm of the federal government. This is an outright infringement on our Constitutional rights as Americans to own and manage property without undue interference from the government.

Ranchers appreciate the need to regulate navigable waters and wetlands that have true environmental value. We value clean water and depend on it for our livelihoods. The current Clean Water Act has been tremendously successful. In fact, it is arguably the most successful environmental law on the books. Millions of miles of rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, estuaries, ponds, and other waters are cleaner and functioning appropriately thanks to the strong partnership that exists between the federal and state levels of government which allows states essential flexibility to do their own land- and water- use planning in a way that makes sense. We cannot allow Congress to take this flexibility away from the states.

All waters are not the same in terms of their environmental function and value, and they should not be regulated in the same way. It makes no sense to require a family farmer or rancher to get a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before they can utilize their property or water their livestock. This is especially true given the fact the federal government is already struggling to handle a backlog of 15,000 to 20,000 existing permit requests.

Today, farmers and ranchers are using fewer natural resources to produce an abundant and affordable supply of safe, wholesome, nutritious food for our consumers, while working hard to protect the natural resources required to produce that food. As the world’s population increases require us to produce more and more food on less land, we need policies that protect farming and ranching. Needlessly imposing additional regulations and financial burdens on an already struggling farm economy makes no sense.