Farmers, Ranchers Cheer Trump’s Move to Ditch Waters of the U.S. Rule

Describing the flawed Waters of the U.S. rule as nothing more than a federal land grab, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said President Donald Trump’s executive order to ditch the rule “is a welcome relief to farmers and ranchers across the country.”

He continued, “The Environmental Protection Agency failed to listen to farmers’ and ranchers’ concerns when drafting the rule and instead created widespread confusion for agriculture. Under the rule, the smallest pond or ditch could be declared a federal waterway.”

Duvall portrayed Trump’s action as a response to farmers’ and ranchers’ calls for a common-sense approach to regulatory reform.

EPA has too long been characterized by regulatory overreach that disregards the positive conservation efforts of farmers and threatens their very way of life. Today’s action is as much a beginning as an end, and there is much work to do to ensure that any revised rule is transparent and fair for America’s farmers and ranchers.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall

Duvall, along with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and others, attended the executive order signing at the White House. Pruitt then joined Duvall and nearly 500 state Farm Bureau leaders and staff at AFBF’s Advocacy Conference.

“This is just the first step to fixing what’s wrong with government regulations,” Pruitt said of the executive order. “There are going to be many steps ahead and we’re going to make sure we do so being mindful of protecting our water, protecting our air, protecting our natural resources.”

Pruitt also told the agricultural leaders that the federal government will no longer impose one-size-fits-all solutions on the states. Instead, he said, he considers the states to be allies in the effort to preserve natural resources.

“We’re going to go back to the states and say, “We want you to be our partners, not our adversaries.’”