By William C. Baker, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
[NOTE: The following Op-Ed was printed in the Chesapeake Bay Journal May 12.]
The long and expensive fight by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Fertilizer Institute and their allies to derail the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is finally over.
The [U.S.] Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal of a lawsuit that they had lost in both the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg and in a unanimous decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
Now that their legal opposition has finally been turned back, we reached out to the Farm Bureau and its allies to encourage them to work with us, rather than fight us.
But despite the decision by the Supreme Court, the Farm Bureau continues its anti-EPA rhetoric. In a recent press statement, they continue to contend that the “EPA has asserted the power to sit as a federal zoning board, dictating which land can be farmed and where homes, roads and schools can be built.” This argument has been repeatedly rejected by federal courts.
The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint pollution caps are still under attack. Timothy Bishop, a partner with Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago who represents the American Farm Bureau Federation, is quoted as saying the question of the EPA’s authority has “just been postponed” until there are nine justices on the court.
There is a real danger in denying agriculture’s role in restoring water quality. The very best estuarine science in the world has presented indisputable evidence that agriculture is part of the problem and must be part of the solution.
Beyond the Bay, as well, a recent University of Michigan-led multi-institution study concluded that a 40 percent reduction in phosphorus runoff from farms and other sources would be needed to stem the harmful algae blooms and dead zones plaguing Lake Erie.
If that 40 percent reduction sounds familiar, it should. For decades, Bay scientists have known that to restore our local rivers, streams and the Chesapeake Bay, we need to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution by 40 percent.
We have made progress, but much of it has been achieved by reducing pollution from sewage treatment plants. While many farmers have implemented best management practices, the full agricultural community must do its fair share.
The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint provides a roadmap to recovery, but it must be fully implemented. With the 2017 Midpoint Assessment just around the corner, it appears that the region will miss another mark, by millions of pounds of pollution, largely because of Pennsylvania, and primarily from agriculture.
The Commonwealth’s officials have acknowledged the problem, and said they are committed to getting the state back on track. Our reaction is to trust, but verify.
An editorial in Lancaster (PA) Farming put it well:
“We should always keep careful watch of what the government is doing, especially with our money and our freedoms.
“But TMDL requirements provide an opportunity to show the rest of the nation that farmers can co-exist with non-farmers and that the environment doesn’t have to suffer as a result.
“Farm Bureau may have lost its battle, but farmers have a chance to win the pollution war.”
We in the Chesapeake Bay region have the opportunity to show the nation, and the world, what can be accomplished if businesses, governments, individuals — and even the Farm Bureau — work together to reduce pollution in our local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.
For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the CBF-PA webpage. Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).
For more information, visit DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Office webpage.
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(Reprinted from the Chesapeake Bay Journal May 12.)
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