Atlanta, GA - In case you missed it, on Friday, Georgia Agricultural Commissioner weighed in on the new Waters Of The United States rule promulgated by President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency. This new rule redefines “navigable waters” to include ponds, ditches, certain streams, and other bodies of water as determined by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act. This overreaching and potentially unlawful rule change will have a significant negative impact on Georgia’s number one industry - Agriculture. It will result in increased inspections, force producers to hire additional lawyers and consultants, and create a regulatory backlog with wait times for additional permitting and paperwork - unnecessarily burdening an industry that is already overregulated.
“As a 7th generation farmer, I know firsthand how Washington overreach hurts our agriculture industry, and in Georgia we are not going to stand by and let Joe Biden’s big government mandates hurt our state’s number one industry,” said Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. “This new WOTUS rule puts more burdensome regulations, red-tape, and wasteful bureaucracy on Georgia farmers at time when they can least afford it. As Agriculture Commissioner, I will keep fighting for sensible regulation, lower-costs, better trade deals, and policies that empower Georgia farmers and families and look forward to putting a stop to this disastrous rule change.”
Georgia Attorney General, Chris Carr, is co-leading a lawsuit challenging the EPA’s new rule in conjunction with 23 other Attorneys General. “For years, we have continued to be at the forefront in the fight to protect our farmers and other private landowners from this costly and complex federal takeover, and this lawsuit is no different,” said Carr. “Once again, the EPA has published a rule that extends its authority far beyond what Congress intended and the Constitution allows, and hardworking Georgians will feel the burden. This is entirely unacceptable, and we will keep pushing back to preserve our state’s traditional role in looking after our land and water resources.”
Furthermore, last October the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, a multi-year battle over the scope of the Clean Water Act. The EPA’s rush to push this new rule through with a Supreme Court ruling pending is a clear act of bad faith.
In April 2022, then State Senator Harper joined with agriculture industry leaders to urge Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to speak out against this proposed WOTUS rule change. “As you know, agriculture is our state’s number one industry - contributing roughly $74 billion annually to Georgia’s economy. One in seven Georgians works in agriculture, forestry, or related fields” Harper stated in the letter. “On behalf of the undersigned leaders of the agriculture community in our state, I urge you to publicly oppose this rule revision and engage with the EPA.” To read the full letter click here.
Commissioner Harper and The Georgia Department of Agriculture are grateful Attorney General Carr is taking the lead on this lawsuit, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership to protect Georgia’s farmers and producers from unconstitutional federal overreach.
Find a full copy of the Attorneys’ General lawsuit here.
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