Donnelly Calls on VA to Continue Engagement on Crown Hill Cemetery Plan
Donnelly: Senate Should Pass Bipartisan WOTUS Bill
Donnelly Introduces Resolution Supporting the “International Year of Soils” and Local Soil and Water Conservation Efforts
U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today introduced a resolution supporting the "International Year of Soils" and locally-led soil and water conservation efforts. Read More
Donnelly: Expand Access to Federal Lands for Hunting, Fishing
Donnelly: LWCF ‘Important Resource for Indiana’s Recreation Economy, Conservation Efforts’
Donnelly Helps Introduce Legislation to Protect and Revitalize the Great Lakes
Donnelly Expresses Disappointment with Federal Court Ruling to Allow Release of Farmers’ and Ranchers’ Personal Information
Donnelly Announces Indiana Regional Conservation Partnership Program Projects
Indiana Senator Presses Top Administration Official on Conservation Regulations
Donnelly Expresses Farmers Frustrations Over WOTUS
As the debate over the Waters of the US continues, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly expressed frustration over burdensome regulations during a hearing earlier today. Donnelly questions where the regulations will end. "Our farmers feel they work non-stop every single day to voluntarily to make our waters cleaner and to make things better," he says. “All we hear is more government regulation. I think what's happened is those actions have lost the confidence of our ag community.” During the hearing, Donnelly told Natural Resources Conservation Services Chief Jason Weller that farmers are frustrated. “It’s the feeling our farmers have when they look up and go 'my government is supposed to be my partner, not my adversary’,” he says. Weller says he hears the frustration, too, in his home state of California. “Farmers there, more than anywhere, are actually very heavily regulated,” he says. “Whether it is for air, for wildlife, or for water. I understand both the palpable frustration and the bottom line business costs that regulation creates. It’s also the perception elsewhere in the country.” Donnelly says the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the NRCS need to work more effectively with the agricultural community to fix WOTUS without burdensome regulations. Read More