President Betsy Huber issued a statement in support of the proposed repeal of the EPA’s 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule

On Tuesday, National Grange President Betsy Huber issued a statement in support of the proposed repeal of the EPA’s 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule.

“The National Grange is pleased to see the administration keeping its promise to America’s farmers and ranchers, by repealing the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.  Repeal of this rule gives American producers more certainty about the allowable use of their property and enhances our nation’s food security.

“The WOTUS rule would have given broad and unnecessary jurisdiction to the EPA that could have paralyzed U.S. commerce and industry. The repeal of WOTUS is essential to farmers allowing them to continue to be good stewards of the land and bountiful producers for Americans and world consumers of food, fiber and fuel. It also resets the clock, restoring common sense balance between environmental protection and preserving the property rights forged by the U.S. Supreme Court in their decisions in two cases decided more than a decade ago related to this issue.

“As we have been for our 150 years, the Grange is committed to working with the EPA, Army Corps of Engineers and the administration to assist in developing more sensible and reasonable regulations that will protect water quality while preserving the necessities of modern agriculture.”

Huber referenced the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. Army Corps (2001) and Rapanos v. U.S. (2006).