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New legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would greatly expand the scope of the Clean Water Act, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The law currently gives the federal government authority over the nation's "navigable waters." But a proposal, called the Clean Water Restoration Act, would remove the term "navigable waters" and could extend federal oversight to "every isolated wet spot in the nation," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. That would put many routine farming tasks at risk of Clean Water Act regulation, resulting in an extreme economic burden on farmers and ranchers, according to the organization.

"The authors of the 1972 Clean Water Act deliberately included ‘navigable waters’ in the legislation. Deleting the term from the law does not restore congressional intent; it changes and expands it," Stallman said.

He said the original intent of Congress was to broadly regulate pollution.

"If this bill becomes law, it would be the most far-reaching expansion of the Clean Water Act in more than three decades and could extend federal jurisdiction to everything from ditches and gutters to groundwater," he said.

"The Clean Water Act is one of our nation’s most comprehensive environmental laws. It properly grants jurisdiction over intrastate waters to local and state governments. Passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act will result in greater confusion, not clarity."

According to OFBF Senior Director of National and Regulatory Affaris Adam Sharp, Farm Bureau has contacted key members of congress urging them to oppose the Clean Water Restoration Act.

Caption: Farms could face financial burdens under a proposal to expand the Clean Water Act to all intrastate waters.