TFI, others oppose proposed Senate water policy

Washington-The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) joined numerous other agricultural organizations on Oct. 27 in urging members of the U.S. Senate to oppose any efforts to attach the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act (S. 1816) to bills that might move through an upcoming “lame duck” session of Congress. TFI says the bill would fundamentally change aspects of the Clean Water Act and set water policy precedents that will impact watersheds throughout the U.S. An Oct. 27 letter sent to Senate members by 40 agriculture organizations claims S. 1816 would transition authority and control from states and local governments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “S. 1816 does not authorize a program to improve water quality through collaboration, technical assistance, and funding,” said TFI President Ford West. “Instead, S. 1816 would set a major legislative precedent in federal environmental law, taking the authority and control granted to states and local governments under the Clean Water Act and turning it over to EPA a step never before taken in the 38-year history of the law.” Specifically, the letter says S. 1816 would grant EPA the authority to issue Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) without giving states the opportunity to act first. “S. 1816 is a breathtaking expansion of Federal regulatory control, and its passage by the Senate would set a major precedent for the application of this model to the entire country,” West said. “The end result of this would, in effect, make EPA the pre-eminent land use authority in the nation.” In addition to TFI, the letter’s signers included the Agricultural Retailers Association, CropLife America, PotashCorp, and some 36 other state agribusiness and trade associations. On Oct. 15, TFI and 19 agricultural and forestry organizations also sent a letter to EPA outlining their concerns with EPA’s proposed TMDL requirements for the Chesapeake Bay. “The agricultural community is deeply committed to protecting and improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and is demonstrating that fact by actively pursuing voluntary best management practices and efforts aimed at minimizing agriculture’s impact on the Bay watershed.” said TFI Vice President of Scientific Programs Bill Herz. “However, we simply cannot support water quality standards, such as EPA’s proposed TMDL, which has been developed on the basis of flawed information that has not gone through the standard public review process.” The groups said that if EPA is unwilling to recall the proposed TMDL, which is on track to be finalized in December, it should at minimum make the models that it used to develop the TMDL available for public review.