On how they have been impacted by environmental regulations. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee heard from industry stakeholders, including representatives from the American Farm bureau, the National Farmers union and the National Pork producers council. This hearing is an hour and 45 minutes. Good morning. I call this hearing to order. Today, well hold a hearing on the impact of federal environmental regulations and policies on American Farming and ranching communities. The discussion here today is not about the value of environmental regulations but about how some federal regulations can be inflexible, antiquated, duplicative and ultimately harmful to american agriculture, a critical part of our nations economy. Members of this committee should work to ensure environmental laws are strong and effective without being overly burdensome. This is often a difficult task. The United States is blessed with diverse ecosystems that often require different kinds of stewardship to remain healthy. In wyoming, we have an abundance of sage brush brainy, forests, a variety of mountain habitats and wetlands. Wyoming ranchers and farmers are familiar with each ecosystem and its needs. This is where they live, work and invest their energies. Farmers and ranchers are the original stewards. They understand that landscapes and watersheds need to be healthy to support native plants, wildlife, crops and livestock. Theyre living professor that interacting with nature can be done in an environmentally sound way, often leaving the resources in better condition than they found them. Washington policies do not always translate well in Rural America. When im home in wyoming, i often hear how out of touch environmental regulations have become. For far too long, the people who feed, clothe and house our nation have been burdened by policies that fail to reflect on the ground realities. We can look no further than the Obama Administrations failed waters of the United States rule. Under that rule, farmers and ranchers across the country were told that irrigation ditches, ponds and puddles were, quote, navigable waters and could be regulated by the federal government. Im happy to say last week the delay in implementation of the rule became final. To make sure that any new rule protects americas Water Resources while not unnecessarily burdening farmers, ranchers, Small Businesses and communities across america. When writing legislation, Congress Must take care to ensure policy actually achieves the designed objective. Agencies must do the same when developing regulations. I believe that we should prioritize updating and revising policies that while wellintentioned were not designed to micromanage agriculture production. One example is the new animal waste emission reporting requirements. Over the past several months, farmers and ranchers struggled to comply with ambiguities and ambiguous Agency Directive following an april 2017 decision in the d. C. Circuit court. That decision fundamentally changed reporting requirements under the comprehensive Environmental Response compensation and Liability Act. And the Emergency Planning and community right to know act. The ruling meant up to 100,000 farmers and ranchers who had never been required to report under these laws were suddenly required to comply. Even though they wanted to comply with the ruling, the process and the implications of compliance were unclear. Because they both were not written with the intent of regulating these farms and ranches. The requirement to report emissions from animal waste came without context and largely without any agency guidance. Let me now turn to the nepa, the National Environmental policy act. And their impact on agriculture operations without mentions nepa. Nepa is at the core of every decision in each land use plan, Resource Management proposal, trailing acrossing permit and grazing allotment that farmers and ranchers need. Nepa is not limited to agriculture. For years, weve discussed the effect nepa has had on delaying the construction of road, bridges, parks, and other critical infrastructures. While environmental analysis can be important in many case,completing nepa takes far too long. As nepa delays stifle ecosystems need changed and farmers, ranchers and their families wait for an answer. As we will hear from todays witness, these are families whose lives, livelihoods, hopes and dreams are inseparable from the lands and the waters they work so hard to keep clean. These are not the only examples of punishing regulations that farmers and ranchers in and the communities they live in face. Today, we will also hear about duplicative permitting requirements of the application of pesticides already covered under the federal insecticide, fung side act or fifra. Issues of privacy and the collection of data on farmers and ranchers. How how the endangered species act has been implemented and the subsequent negative impact on ranching and farmers. Before we move on to our witnesses today, id like to turn to the Ranking Member, senator carper for his remarks. Thanks, mr. Chairman. Thanks very much for bringing us all together today, a special thanks to our witnesses. I feel privileged to be able to introduce our secretary of agriculture for a second tour in a moment. First, let me give a brief statement and id like to introduce michael. No other sector of our nations economy success is more closely tied with the quality of our environment than is Agriculture Sector. Farmers are our nations original conservationists. They understand better than anyone else the need for clean air, for clean water and highquality soil in order to produce the food that we need, not just to feed ourselves, but, really, to feed the world. In delaware, over 40 of our land is dedicated to farming. Our states Agricultural Sector employs some 30,000 dealians, while contributing nearly 8 billion a year to our states economy. First in the nation for value of product produced per acre. First in the number of lima beans harvested. First in i think in sussex county, which is the Third Largest county in america, third in production of chickens by county. We do all of this while practicing exceptional Environmental Stewardship while our Farming Community is working closely in partnership with usda, with state agencies and our universities. Our nations environmental laws have been instrumental in helping us deliver clean air, clean water and productive lands for our farmers and our ranchers, and i should add that a list to to that list our foresters, our fishing communities because their success is also greatly dependent on a healthy environment and vital ecosystems. For example, epa has found that the 2005 Clean Air Act rules that protect our lungs from ground smog also protect our crops. And animals. To the tune of 13 billion in estimated benefits by 2020. The clear air act also protects crops from damaging ultra violet radiation by protecting the planets ozone layer and limiting the use of ozone deplating chemicals. It turns out those Clean Air Act will produce an estimate 7. Other Environmental Issues where we need to act and do more to help our farmers. For example, Climate Change is already disrupting the livelihood of farmers and ranchers. The federal governments Third NationalClimate Assessment found that, and i quote, climate drugs to Agricultural Production have increased in the past 40 years and are projected to increase over the next 25 years. By midcentury and beyond, these impacts will be increasingly negative on crops and livestock, closed quote. The report issued in november of 2017 confirmed these trends. I look forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses on this topic. Other Environmental Programs have created new Income Opportunities for farmers. The renewable fuel standard has been a Major Economic driver in farm communities across our country. In addition, tens of thousands of farmers across our country are enrolled in usdas Conservation Programs that pay farmers for the Water Quality and Habitat Conservation services they provide and protect. I acknowledge, though, that sometimes environmental requirements can be complex. The chairmans referred to this already. But those requirements can be confusing to those who farm. One such example is the air emissions reporting requirement for farms under two laws. The comprehensive Environmental Response compensation and Liability Act ceremony as cercla, and known as epcra. The Bush Administration promulgated a rule that exempted all but the largest farms from reporting under these farms. In 2017, the d. C. Circuit court overturned the 2008 rule, putting farmers on notice they would soon need to begin reporting. Unfortunately, epas reporting guidance has been confusing and unhelpful. Along with a number of other clears here in this room and outside this room, ive been pushing epa for several months to do better. Epa agreed it had more work to do, at our urging agreed to request more time from the court to continue developing workable guidance, and if necessary, to give congress the time to act on this issue. Thankfully, the court agreed. Last week, as we know, gave epa until may 1st to get this right. With the 2008 rule no longer in place, im committed to working with towards a solution that balances the burden of this reporting on our farmers with the legitimate needs of Public Health and Emergency Response officials. And the right of local Community Members to know about the pollution in their air. This is what the Bush Administration sought to do in 2008, and it is how i believe we should proceed now. If i could, mr. Chairman, just a quick word of introduction im tempted just to read his bio. I wont do that. But really an incredible record of service and achievement. The scuse family is highly regarded in our state. We have three counties. Just lower to those in the middle of our state just north of dover. The scuse family has farmed there forever and enjoyed great access and really been a role model for a lot of folks in farming and outside of farming. I mentioned in my statement that farmers were our first original conservationists. The scuse family is a great example of that. In addition to serving and the work hes done with his own family business, hes served as our secretary of agriculture, not once, almost eight years under governor he also served as her chief of staff for a period of time. In the Current Administration of governor john carney, hes eye secretary of agriculture. Were delighted that he is. In addition to that, he was asking the Obama Administration to come down here and to serve in washington in a number of Senior Leadership positions, including undersecretary at the department of ag, acting deputy secretary of agriculture. Acting secretary of agriculture for our country. Its just extraordinary. And im just thrilled that he can be here today. Hes a good friend. Someone that im honored to say hes a delawarean and were honored youre here with us today, michael, and i absolute you for tall youve done and continue to do. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, senator carper. We have a number of introductions to be made. Senator ernest and senator moran have introductions. Senator ernest. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Howard hill, and as a veter veterinarian with iowa select farms. And for Murphy Family farms in rose hill, North Carolina, and was head of veterinary microbiology in the Iowa State University diagnostic laboratory. Dr. Hill served as president of the nppc for the 2014 2015 term and prior to that was a member of the nppc board of directors, serving on a number of committees and cochairing the environmental policy committee. He also served on the board of directors of the iowa pork producers, where he was the chairman of the Research Committee and the contract growers committee. Dr. Hill owns sow farm which produces breeding stock. He partners with his son on the family farm where they have a purebred angus herd and 2,500 acres of row crops. Thank you for being here today, dr. Hill. We look forward to hearing your testimony. Thank you so much. Thank you, senator ernest. Senator moran . Thank to you and the Ranking Member for having our hearing. Its my honor to introduce a kansas farmer from wheaten, kansas, in the North Central part of our state. Don has been actively engaged in the National Farmers union, the kansas Farmers Union for a very long time. He is a leader in agriculture in Rural America and i hold don in high regard for his love for and passion for small towns across our state and reneck niche recot if Rural America is going to have a future, its because farmers and ranchers are having success. I appreciate him. Especially here on the conservation issue, he has a great love for the land and understands how important clear skies and good soil and clean water is to kansans across our state. So, don, i welcome you to the committee and thank you for your testimony. I look forward to hearing it. Thank you, senator moran. We also have joining the panel mr. Duval. But first, were going to hear from mr. Hanson. Nels joins us today from recall raulings, wyoming. For the public lands council. A Third Generation rancher, nels knows that raising cattle, sheep and horses is full of challenges. Over the years, nels has worked with the university of wyoming and the bureau of Land Management to develop cooperative range land monitoring, which has allowed nels to become internately familiar with both the needs of his livestock and range land ecosystems. His successful stewardship is evident in the longevity of his family ranch, which has also been recognized for many years in wyoming and nationally. The bureau of Land Management recognized nelss range with a stewardship award in 2000 and in 2001, the ranch was named cooperator of the year. Nels has been recognized repeatedly for his leadership in the industry and in his community. He has served as a member of the search and rescue and was inducted into the wyoming agriculture hall of fame in 2010. Nels, im pleased to have you here today to lend your wealth of experience with the committee. I ask that you please proceed. Thank you, chairman barrasso, Ranking Member carper, members of the committee. Thank you for having me here today to address the federal regulations effect how the federal regulations affect my ranch and others across the country. My name is nels hanson. My anymofamily has been ranchin our area for 120 years. Today my son is hope taking care of the ranch so that i can be here with you today to discuss these issues. Past chairman of the wyoming state grazing board. Member of the National Cattlemans Association and i currently serve as secretary treasurer for the National Public lands council. Our ranch covers 230,000 acres of ground in central wyoming, consists of private and blm in the checker board land pattern. And we spanned over three watersheds. Beyond ranching, i spent much of the last 30 years working on these issues that were discussing today in wyoming, in washington, d. C. And across the west. As recently as last week at the national cattlemans convention, i taught a class on working with federal agencies and trying to educate people how to get along and work towards a goal. In our interactions with the federal agencies, our First Priority is always to identify Common Ground and to Work Together. But we are constantly tangled in a web of federal regulations. Im here today to talk to about just a few of those regulations that impact my ranch and my family. As long as it remains on the books, the obamaera wotus rule continues to be a serious threat to our operation. On our ranch, we wrestle with the management of three watersheds. None of them drain directly into at adjacent held in waters. But under the ambiguous and overreaching 2015 rule, its impossible to know whether we are exempt or not. As a family rancher, i should not need to hire hydrologists, engineers and attorneys to