With the start of the farm bill conference next week, House and Senate conferees will have to decide whether to allow language that would restrict the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority over regulations and policies that affect agriculture.
The bill passed by the House bars EPA from requiring Clean Water Act permits for pesticide spraying near or on waters and from disclosing private and confidential information about owners and operators of concentrated animal feeding operations to the public. The bill also would require the agriculture secretary to review any EPA policy, guidance, memorandum, or regulation that could impact agriculture. The Senate’s comprehensive farm bill passed this summer contains no language restricting EPA’s regulatory authority.
On October 15, the American Farm Bureau Federation sent a letter to all farm bill conferees, backing language to eliminate what they consider “duplicative” regulations of pesticides. The farm bureau also supports prohibiting EPA from disclosing personal information about livestock owners and farmers to the public.
