Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, I wish to speak on a provision in the appropriations measure. I am pleased to see that this legislation includes a provision in Division D-Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2015, which addresses a concern raised by farmers and ranchers around the country.

Section 111 of the General Provisions relating to the Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program states that: ``None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to require a permit for the discharge of dredged or fill material under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for the activities identified in subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 404(f)(1) of the Act.''

In section 404(f)(1) of the Clean Water Act, Congress provided a permitting exemption for certain activities including normal farming, forestry, and ranching activities, upland soil and water conservation practices, and the construction and maintenance of farm or stock ponds or irrigation ditches and the maintenance of drainage ditches.

One would think that with this clear exemption, our farmers and ranchers could go about their business without worrying about whether EPA or the Corps of Engineers would try to regulate plowing, seeding, and harvesting, or their farm ponds and ditches. Unfortunately, in recent years EPA and the Corps of Engineers have been trying to circumvent the 404(f)(1) permitting exemptions by interpreting the limited ``recapture'' provision in section 404(f)(2) in such an expansive way as to virtually swallow up the exemptions in 404(f)(1).

A farmer's field is not a water of the U.S. A farm pond is not a water of the U.S. An irrigation ditch is not a water of the U.S. But, there are overzealous regulators out there who disagree. We have seen the Corps try to regulate a family farm when the farmer tried to change from a ditch irrigation system to a piped irrigation system to improve water efficiency. The Corps argued that there would be runoff from the work and that runoff somehow made the work subject to permitting under section 404.

Section 111 stops that regulatory overreach and preserves the protections Congress has provided to ranchers and farmers by making it clear that the recapture provisions of section 404(f)(2) do not apply to normal farming, forestry, and ranching activities, upland soil and water conservation practices, and the construction and maintenance of farm or stock ponds or irrigation ditches and the maintenance of drainage ditches.

Of course, the greatest abuse of the Clean Water Act is the Obama Administration's proposed ``waters of the United States'' rule, and this section does not alleviate the concerns that farmers, small businesses, and local communities have with the proposed rule. This section will, however, ensure that the will of Congress to protect farmers and ranchers from burdensome 404 permitting requirements is carried out, and I will continue to do everything in my power to stop EPA from finalizing the proposed ``waters of the United States'' rule next year.

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