New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher of Madrid hopes the new Navigable Waters Protection Rule announced last week will eliminate some of the restrictions imposed on farmers and confusion over compliance with the rule.

“The new Navigable Waters Protection Rule provides a clear definition for farmers that will enable them to better protect the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) without confusing, far-reaching oversight from the federal government,” Fisher said after the announcement on implementation of the rule by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers.

It replaces the 2015 WOTUS Rule that used what farmers and others complained were ambiguous definitions to federally regulate, among other things, farm and roadside ditches and dry land that only saw streaming water after a rainstorm. Farmers were left wondering what actions required costly federal permits to farm and what did not. That confusion is now washed away, the announcement from Fisher said.

“Farmers will continue to maintain high environmental standards under this new rule,” Fisher said. “Their families, crops and livestock all depend on having clean water. It also recognizes that states have the jurisdiction to control their own environmental landscape beyond the four categories that are now clearly laid out in the federal Clean Water Act. New York State has some of the strictest water regulations in the country that all businesses, farms included, must comply with to protect water quality.”

“We appreciate that the EPA and Army Corps along with the President’s administration listened to the thousands of farmers in New York and across the country who advocated for clean water and clear rules,” Fisher said, concluding his statement.