Hanna supports bill, said rule change would hurt Upstate farms and small businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Richard Hannatoday voted to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers from expanding federal regulations that would have a negative impact on many upstate New York farmers and small businesses including homebuilders and contractors.

Both agencies are working to expand the already overly broad definition of the term ‘navigable waters’ in the Clean Water Act.The proposed rule would redefine the scope of federal power under the Clean Water Act, creating jurisdiction over almost all physical areas with a connection to downstream navigable waters. This would put features such as ditches, natural or man-made ponds, flood plains, and prairie potholes, among others, under federal control.

Rep. Hanna said the rule being pushed by the EPA and Army Corps would directly contradict prior U.S. Supreme Court decisions and is based on incomplete scientific and economic analyses. Rep. Hanna was an early supporter of H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act, which passed today by a vote of 262 – 152. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.

“Keeping a small business like a family farm operating and growing in New York state is hard work,”Rep. Hanna said. “The very last thing Upstate needs is for the EPA to come onto our farms and start regulating common irrigation ditches and puddles. That’s why I supported this bill to get rid of these extra regulations that would do more harm than good.”

Earlier this year, Rep. Hanna detailed his effort to prevent the rule change during tours of a few upstate New York farms:

- Marshman Farms LLCinOxford, a dairy operation several miles south of Norwich along the river flats.

- Quiet Meadows Farm in Verona, which farms crops such as: corn, soybeans, grains, and sweet corn, but also has some heifers.

- EZ Acres Farm in Homer, a 680-cow dairy on 1,900 acres in Cortland County. The farm won the 2013 Environmental Steward Award presented by the Skaneateles Watershed Agriculture Program. The award recognizes EZ Acres Farm as a leader in managing environmental safeguards and guidelines.

The owners of all three farms said water can pool from time to time especially during a spring melt or heavy rainfall. If the EPA and the Army Corps are successful in changing this rule, temporary puddles could be considered ‘navigable waters,’ and thereby come under their sweeping regulatory jurisdiction which can lead to thousands of dollars in fines for businesses. The New York Farm Bureau said New York farmers take the care of natural resources very seriously.

“We cannot understand the reasoning behind the EPA’s push to greatly expand the Clean Water Act,” said Dean Norton, New York Farm Bureau President. “The ambiguities that come with this proposal potentially opens up every ditch and rain puddle on our farms to a host of new regulations. This defies logic because the cost to our farms and to the taxpayers could be enormous. New York Farm Bureau thanks Congressman Hanna for his efforts to oppose the overreach of the EPA on this issue.”