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McKinney concerned politics will muddy WOTUS rule
The CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) is worried politics will muddy the next Waters of the U.S. Rule.
Ted McKinney tells Brownfield NASDA is made up of many Democrats and Republicans.
“To state it bluntly, there is a view by many of our members, and it crosses party lines, that this re-visitation yet again of WOTUS has a whole lot more of a political bent than it does a scientific bent.”
He says NASDA is challenging the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to make sure the next Clean Water Rule is “free and fair” and points out state government will have a key role to play.
“The states have responsibilities for water. And the key point of demarcation is that anything that’s navigable, which is not a mud puddle on a farmstead, is the federal responsibility. And all else belongs to the states.”
McKinney says NASDA has submitted comments on the WOTUS rule that caution EPA not to “arbitrarily make federal waters equal all waters.”
