The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced that it would hear a landmark case (Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency) relating to the Clean Water Act (CWA) and what constitiutes Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) under the act. The hearing and potential for a ruling is timely as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last fall that it was in the process of adjusting its rules related to the act. This issue remains of top concern to American agriculture. Many agricultural organizations, including the Ag Council of Arkansas, are encouraging EPA to refrain from making substantive changes or interpretations to the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) prior to the Supreme Court consideration of the Sackett Case.
The EPA is accepting public comments on this issue through February 7th on its own proposed changes to WOTUS related regulations under the CWA. Comments can be submitted here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0602-0001
Arkansas Farm Bureau has made available a simple way for farmers to submit comments to EPA here: Comments to EPA
More below:
https://www.agweb.com/markets/pro-farmer-analysis/supreme-court-review-wotus-issue
https://www.agweek.com/news/policy/supreme-court-will-hear-case-questioning-reach-of-clean-water-act
https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-policy/scotus-hear-wotus-case
https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/ag-groups-react-to-supreme-court-decision-to-hear-wotus-appeal/
https://www.eenews.net/articles/epa-supreme-court-jockey-to-define-clean-water-acts-reach/
https://www.epa.gov/wotus/public-outreach-and-stakeholder-engagement-activities