Environmental Law

Mary-Thomas Hart, with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, discusses the latest WOTUS developments and their implications for agriculture.
U.S. aquaculture may gain competitive ground as harmful subsidies are phased out abroad, but producers should monitor shifts in import supply chains and trade enforcement closely.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today issued a new memorandum to modernize and strengthen America’s wildfire prevention and response system.
Year-round sales of E-15 are another major topic on Capitol Hill, which, according to Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), is one issue up for debate this session with significant bipartisan support.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) joined us on Champions of Rural America to share his insights on upcoming changes to public land management and how they will benefit agriculture and the Western working class.
The Interior Department is proposing to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule. This move would make huge strides to empower local decision-making and restore balance between conservation and protecting rural livelihoods tied to these public lands.
Tom Peterson with the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association says taxpayers are “unfortunate casualties” of this overlay now that the Mexican wolf population is stable under ESA guidelines.
The amendments affect BLM lands in several Western states. Comments on the Sage grouse proposals can be made to the BLM National NEPA Register until Oct. 3.
Mike Formica with the National Pork Producers Council joined us on Market Day Report with his reaction to the EPA’s rollback of a Biden-era wastewater discharge mitigation plan.
“I’m optimistic that this agency, this administration again, made WOTUS a real priority.”
“We can finally put into place rules that will have some staying power, which will give certainty to landowners across the country.”
Property rights are fundamental constitutional rights. It’s refreshing to see the courts (and a jury) uphold them in a well-balanced manner against other equally fundamental constitutional rights.
In his latest Firm to Farm blog post, Roger McEowen discusses the new EPA/COE clarifications concerning WOTUS. The new measures have important implications for farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners.
Agricultural irrigation return flow exemption and “Maui factors” are the topics of today’s Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV ag tax and legal expert Roger McEowen with Kansas’ Washburn School of Law.