The revised definition of the Waters of the United States rule took effect on March 20. These include all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide. But some say this new revision has flaws and is not good for the development of farmlands and private lands.
"It pulls a whole lot of private land under the jurisdiction of the federal regulator,” West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said.
Capito was involved in the vote to overturn WOTUS and said those problems start with the definition surrounding it.
"To me, a navigable water is something that you can actually navigate with a boat or some kind of vessel,” Capito said. “And what the Biden administration has done is moved that definition of navigable waters to be streams and farm ponds.
"Then you're going to have to permit anytime you move your fencing, anytime you build a building on your farm.”
Capito said this puts an added burden on farmers.
Many farmers have been outspoken on the topic and are searching for some type of fix.
"Farmers need clarity,” Ty Higgins, senior director of communications with the Ohio Farm Bureau, said. “They need to know if we have heavy rain and a waterway fills up with water or a ditch, that certainly is not under EPA jurisdiction if it happens every once in a while.”
Higgins said it’s concerning for farmers as it could potentially impact their livelihoods.
"Instead of being with lawyers all the time deciding what is and what isn’t under WOTUS jurisdiction, farmers would much rather be in the field doing what they do to protect their land, protect their water, and to feed a fast-growing population across Ohio, the U.S., and across the world,” Higgins said.
The U.S. Supreme Court will be ruling on this in June, but for now that bipartisan resolution is on its way to Biden's desk, which both Capito and Higgins hope will pass. The president has said he plans a veto.