Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan today urged Congress to hold the Environmental Protection Agency accountable for its burdensome regulations and aggressive tactics against U.S. farmers and ranchers.
In testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management and Regulatory Oversight, Buchanan explained how Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers are affected by the EPA’s regulations, especially its Waters of the United States rule.
“After carefully studying the proposed rule, we at Farm Bureau concluded that the rule’s vague and broad language would define ‘waters of the United States’ to include countless land areas that are common in and around farm fields and ranches across the countryside. These are areas that don’t look a bit like water,” Buchanan said in his testimony.
“They look like land, and they are farmed, but by defining them as ‘waters of the U.S.’ the rule would make it illegal to farm, build a fence, cut trees, build a house, or do most anything else there without first asking permission of the federal government and navigating a costly and complex permitting regime,” he said.
Buchanan also highlighted EPA’s misleading advocacy for its own rule, using public relations and social media campaigns to garner support.
“Regardless of whether you supported, opposed or never heard of the waters rule, I hope many of you would agree that this is not how rulemaking should be conducted,” Buchanan said.
Regulations like WOTUS hinder the American farmer’s ability to produce food and fiber for the world, Buchanan said.
“We have the ultimate regulator, and that’s the American consumer,” Buchanan said. “Regulations will do nothing but handcuff us and handicap us. The American public today enjoys the most abundant, the highest quality and the most affordable food sources they’ve ever had. That’s a result of American agriculture meeting the need of the market.”
Buchanan ended his comments by thanking Sen. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, for his tireless efforts to support Oklahoma farmers and ranchers.
A copy of Buchanan’s testimony can be found here (PDF link).
Find an archived video of the hearing here (scrub to 38:20 for Buchanan’s introduction and testimony).
Listen to Buchanan’s interview with American Farm Bureau’s Newsline program.
