Iowa Farmers Union president Chris Petersen of Clear Lake testified before Congress regarding the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 on April 16 in Washington, DC. He was one of only a handful of agricultural organization representatives from across the US invited to testify.

Speaking before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Petersen said, “Any legislation impacting clean water must be clear enough for farmers to be able to predict which lands and waters will be covered.”Petersen said lawmakers should consider the differences between family farming and industrial agriculture when creating legislation. He added that family farmers should not be penalized for the actions of corporate farms.In his testimony, Petersen highlighted the water quality challenges producers face, and commented on IFU’s support for the following actions:

• Requiring CAFOs to post the appropriate bonds to cover the cost of cleaning up any contamination they cause;
• Conserve water and taxpayer dollars by targeting water subsidies to family-sized operations, and
• Sharing the responsibility and liability for contamination between vertical integrators (owners) and farmers who contract with them.”

Farmers have long acknowledged that clean, safe water is critical to the success of their ag operations, and to their families and neighbors,” Petersen said. “We applaud efforts by Congress to clarify the intent of clean water legislation.”

The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 is a bill which seeks to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act) by replacing the term “navigable waters” throughout the language of the act with the term “waters of the United States.” The intent of the legislation is to clarify the jurisdiction of the federal government in dealing with water pollution. It was a response to two US Supreme Court decisions which many feel eroded the strength of the Clean Water Act, and it has garnered both strong support from the environmental community and stiff opposition from municipal utilities and rural water districts. To read the text of the act, click here.
To read Mr. Petersen’s verbal testimony, click here.