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James: new Clean Water rule will provide clarity for agriculture

The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works says the new Clean Water rule should be out by the end of 2019.

Rickey “R.D.” James with the Army for Civil Works says the new clean water rule is better than the far-reaching Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.

“We had expanded that rule over the last 15 years or so to include everything- even a farm pond or a wet spot in the field that was only wet when you had a rainfall event,” he says. “That’s not what the law was planned for.”

He says it will benefit the ag industry with regulatory clarity.

“It had gotten to the point that if you had a ditch on your farm to drain surface water during heavy rain events it was regulated and you had to get a permit to even clean out your own farm ditch,” he says. “that won’t be the case in the future.”

The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the new Clean Water Rule in December and is taking comments on it through April 15th.

James spoke to Brownfield at the Ohio Farm Bureau County Presidents’ Trip in DC.

Audio: Rickey “R.D. James, Army for Civil Works

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