House Republicans on June 13 sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the White House to loosen “federal regulatory barriers and policies” that they said are “creating uncertainty for U.S. farmers and ranchers” and are “undermining America’s ability to meet the food and fiber needs of the globe.”
Led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.), Ranking Member on the Agriculture Committee, the lawmakers framed their demands along four key points, urging the White House to address rising farm input costs; recently proposed changes to the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule; a refocus of the U.S. EPA on “sound science;” and an end to “onerous” climate rules.
The letter accuses the Biden administration of neglecting to “take serious action to increase American production” in the wake of “fractured supply chains, skyrocketing input costs, and historic levels of inflation.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the letter states, “further disrupted the global food system, resulting in increased energy prices, fertilizer cost spikes and shortages, and worsening food shortages in developing countries.”
Regarding farm input costs, the letter said agricultural producers are paying 115% more for diesel, while natural gas is up 202%. “Fertilizer inputs such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium increased 125% in cost from January 2021 to January 2022, and an additional 17% in the first three months of 2022,” the letter states.
The letter urges the administration to provide “immediate relief” by withdrawing recently proposed revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (GM April 29, p. 30); allowing phosphogypsum to be recycled in road construction or other uses; updating the definition of critical minerals to include potash and phosphate; and taking steps to increase domestic energy exploration, production, and transport, including increasing oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, and expediting pipeline permitting.
The letter further urges the Biden administration to reverse its recently proposed changes to the WOTUS rule and to end the “regulatory red tape nightmare” that has resulted from vague definitions of what constitutes a federal waterway.
The letter also takes the Biden administration to task for recent EPA regulatory decisions such as prohibiting the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops and reversing “longstanding policy” related to federal preemption with the “politicization of crop protection tools” such as glyphosate.
Finally, the letter charges that the Biden administration’s “war on agriculture” has been expanded most recently through a proposed Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) rule, “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” House Republicans allege that this rule, issued on March 22, would place an “onerous” requirement on farmers, regardless of size, to track and report scope 3 emissions data to the companies with which they work.
“In short, your administration’s federal regulatory barriers and policies are undermining America’s ability to meet the food and fiber needs of the globe by creating uncertainty for U.S. farmers and ranchers,” the letter concludes. “We cannot afford to continue without a comprehensive plan to reverse course on this destructive agenda and address this crisis. We request that you immediately meet with Congressional members to develop a plan that restores domestic production and allows American farmers to lower food prices at home and provide critical humanitarian aid abroad.”