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House Passes LaMalfa Amendment Defunding Lawless Environmental Over-regulation

July 11, 2014

Washington, DC – Late last evening, the House passed Rep. Doug LaMalfa's (R-CA) amendment to defund lawless federal regulation of agricultural work like plowing fields, planting seeds and harvesting crops. While the Clean Water Act explicitly exempts these activities, federal agencies have added new requirements without any basis the law in order to force farmers to undergo permitting. LaMalfa's amendment to H.R. 4923, the 2015 Energy and Water appropriations bill, passed on a bipartisan 239 – 182 vote.

"This is just the latest instance of federal bureaucracies acting in direct violation of the law, in this case to harass American's farmers for day-to-day work like plowing fields that is exempt from regulation," said LaMalfa. "While Congress clearly exempted these activities, the EPA and Army Corps have created new requirements without any legal basis. Under these rules, simply changing crops or planting fallowed fields could require a costly federal permit, which these agencies could refuse to issue."

Video of LaMalfa's comments on the amendment may be viewed here.

The Clean Water Act language, found here, specifically exempts the following activities from regulation:

-Normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities such as plowing, seeding, cultivating, minor drainage, harvesting for the production of food, fiber, and forest products;

-Construction or maintenance of farm or stock ponds or irrigation ditches, or the maintenance of drainage ditches.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers rules, farm operations must be "established" and "ongoing", requirements found nowhere in the Clean Water Act. The Army Corps rules, found here, add new hurdles not required by law:

  • MUST* be a part of an established (on-going) farming, silviculture, or ranching operation. An operation is no longer established when the area on which it was conducted has been converted to another use or has lain idle so long that modifications to the hydrologic regime are necessary to resume operations.
  • For example, if a property has been used for cattle grazing, the exemption does not apply if future activities would involve planting crops for food; similarly, if the current use of a property is for growing corn, the exemption does not apply if future activities would involve conversion to an orchard or vineyards.

* Emphasis in original.

Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.

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Issues:Agriculture