Menu

by Susie Taylor

Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s core purpose is to "Work together for Ohio farmers." That call to work together is the reason the organization donated $2,000 to Oregon Farm Bureau to help fight any appeals on a lawsuit that could impact the agricultural industry everywhere.

"This ruling could impact a lot of businesses throughout the country, and most significantly farmers," said OFBF Executive Vice President John C. "Jack" Fisher. "That’s why the board felt compelled to donate financially to support one of our fellow state Farm Bureaus in this precedent-setting case."

The case surrounded the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) attempt to apply total maximum daily load (TMDL) limits to a ranch straddling the Burnt River in eastern Oregon. Cattle rancher Daryl Hawes, the Baker County Livestock Association and the Baker County Farm Bureau filed a suit that challenged the authority of DEQ to limit production practices on Hawes’ ranch. The suit alleged that DEQ incorrectly interpreted provisions of the Clean Water Act, and it brought to light the impracticality of the zero tolerance imposed on farm and ranch activities in meeting TMDL temperature standards in the more-than 1,000 water-quality-limited rivers and streams in Oregon.

Oregon’s Eighth Circuit Court Judge Gregory L. Baxter on Dec. 7 ordered the state to cancel an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that gave DEQ the authority to restrict production practices that could lead to nonpoint source pollution in Oregon waterways wholly influenced by nonpoint sources.

Now that the Oregon court has decided in favor of agriculture, Oregon Farm Bureau is anticipating appeals from that state’s DEQ or the U.S. EPA, according to information in a letter from Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue to OFBF President Terry McClure. In that letter, Bushue asked for financial support to fight any appeals.

"’Hawes’ opens the door to other states to question and preclude the use of TMDLs for nonpoint sources," Bushue wrote in his letter. "It puts the farmer on a level playing field with the agencies. … ‘Hawes’ will only help farmers in your state if we can withstand the appeal in Oregon."

Recently the U.S. EPA withdrew its July 2000 proposed TMDL rule, which was never implemented, but had to be withdrawn or it would have gone into effect at the end of this month. The federal agency currently operates under the TMDL guidelines established in 1992, and is developing a new proposal that should be released this year.

If the Oregon Circuit Court ruling stands, the way state environmental agencies regulate nonpoint source emissions could drastically change.

After the Oregon ruling, a weekly agricultural publication from Salem, Ore., the Capital Press, reported: "This is a major victory for agriculture," said Jean Wilkinson, a lobbyist for the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation. "Water-quality limitations that are unreasonable, unworkable and unjustifiable represent some of the biggest threats to agriculture in this state. The sooner we can impose checks and balances on these regulations, the more secure agriculture will be."

DEQ was using standards originally written for the purpose of policing industry to regulate farms and ranches, Wilkinson said.

"DEQ can utilize TMDLs to regulate industry and big business, but they need to stay out of agriculture," she said. "TMDLs were never intended to be used to regulate nonpoint source pollution."

This isn’t the first time OFBF has provided financial support to other state Farm Bureaus or the American Farm Bureau.

"We view support of this kind as an extension of Farm Bureau’s policy development process," Fisher explained. "Our members tell us what policies they’d like us to implement; our staff lobbies to get laws reflecting those policies passed; and then we work with lawmakers to get those laws implemented. Quite often, that includes litigation to ensure the laws are interpreted in the manner in which they were intended. Our work isn’t done until we see proper implementation of our policy."