House Committee Takes Up Water Bills with Agriculture Impacts

By CnAgri2012-07-27 19:34:49 Print

The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee is scheduled on Thursday to mark up several water-related measures that relate directly to agriculture.

The bills on the committee agenda include:

** H.R. 4278, sponsored by Reps. Robert Hurt (R-Va.) and Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), would eliminate limits on the regulatory exemptions provided in the Clean Water Act for agricultural activities.

** H.R. 5961, by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), would amend the Clean Water Act to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from conducting aerial surveillance of farmland without voluntary written consent, public notice and a certification of reasonable suspicion that a violation has occurred.

** H.R. 2541, by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), would prohibit EPA from requiring a water pollution permit for silviculture.

** H.R. 3158, by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), would specify EPA enforcement of the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule including realistic threshold sizes for tank regulation at the farm level and allowing more farms to self-certify for large containers on farms.

Agricultural groups sent a letter earlier this year in support of H.R. 3158, which expresses the need for clarity on the requirements of the EPA's SPCC rule. H.R. 3158 and the other ag-related measures are expected to pass the House T&I Committee and possibly the full House, but prospects in the Senate are uncertain.