Maps Show Impending Impact From WOTUS

Posted by Rosemary Gordon|August 19, 2015

A series of maps released last week by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) show how EPA will radically expand its jurisdiction over land use if its controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule takes effect as expected on Aug. 28. That expansion comes even as major parts of the rule remain largely incomprehensible to experts and laypeople, according to AFBF.

The maps, prepared by Geosyntec Consulting, show the expansion of EPA’s regulatory reach, stretching across wide swaths of land in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Montana. In Pennsylvania, for example, 99% of the state’s total acreage is subject to EPA scrutiny. According to AFBF, landowners have no reliable way to know which of the water and land within that area will be regulated, yet they must still conform their activities to the new law.

“Farmers face enforcement action and severe penalties under EPA’s new rule for using the same safe, scientifically sound and federally approved crop protection tools they’ve used for years,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. “This rule creates a new set of tools for harassing farmers in court, and does it all with language that is disturbingly vague and subject to abuse by future regulators. It’s worth saying again: The EPA needs to withdraw this rule and start over.”

Maps prepared to date can be found here:
•  Montana WOTUS Maps
•  Pennsylvania WOTUS Maps
•  Virginia WOTUS Maps
*Additional maps are being developed for parts of Missouri, New York, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Click here for more information.