The farm bill is not an appropriate medium in which to address U.S. EPA regulation, Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said today in addressing the myriad amendments filed on the bill that seek to halt environmental rules.

In a conference call with reporters, Stabenow said she and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) were working on ways to move forward with germane amendments, or those that pertain only to the agricultural programs contained in the farm bill.

Although there are now nearly 250 amendments filed on the bill, both germane and nongermane, the agriculture chairwoman expressed confidence in being able to get through the legislation in a timely manner. The Senate today debated and voted to table, or kill, two amendments to the bill: one from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on the legislation's sugar program and one from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on the food stamps programs.

Speaking on the floor today, Reid said he is working with Stabenow on a longer list of amendments to bring to a vote and until then hopes to bring individual ones to the floor. The next two amendments to be voted on are one by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), to eliminate certain conservation programs and one by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to convert all mandatory spending to discretionary spending.

"We are in a spot where we are negotiating and moving forward and beginning the discussion on the floor," Stabenow said. "I know that Senator Reid wants to light some fires to make sure that things move. ... I'm actually feeling like we're getting going."

But while Stabenow and Reid are signaling that they will keep the bill only to relevant amendments, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) seems to have other ideas. He has indicated he is seeking to use the legislation to roll back several regulations that he said were a "problem" (E&E Daily, June 13).

Dozens of other amendments have been filed that would prohibit EPA from carrying out regulations, many pertaining to the Clean Water Act.

Stabenow acknowledged the split between the two Senate leaders.

"There's no question that there are issues in front of us, some of which I support, some of which I don't. They aren't within our jurisdiction," she said. "We will negotiate, the leaders will negotiate to see which ones we will have a vote on."

Among the new amendments filed yesterday are two by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) that would affect grazing fees on public and National Forest System land. The provisions would set grazing leases on those lands at rates that are comparable to those on private lands.

The current public rate is $1.35 per month to graze a cow and her calf, several times below private rates.

Environmentalists and opponents of public-land ranching have long called for the rates to be higher, saying the low rates create perverse incentives to graze (Greenwire, Feb. 1).

The Obama administration's fiscal 2013 budget proposes to increase fees on Interior Department lands by about 75 percent, but the proposal has few fans among Western lawmakers and cattle ranchers.

Conservation amendments

Other amendments filed yesterday include the one by Coburn that would eliminate two of the bill's largest conservation programs: the Conservation Stewardship Program, which rewards farmers on a tiered basis for making environmental improvements, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a cost-share program that provides some of the funding needed to make improvements.

The bill's conservation programs have wide support, though, from lawmakers and conservation groups. More than 500 conservation groups yesterday sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to reject any further cuts to farmland conservation. Under the Senate farm bill, the programs already face a cut of more than $6 billion over the next decade.

Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), who voted against the farm bill when it was in the Senate Agriculture Committee, filed several amendments yesterday, including a broad one that would require congressional approval of any rule that has a "negative effect on access to affordable food."

The amendment would make a distinction between two categories of rules. "Major rules" are those that have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, that cause a major increase in costs or price, or that adversely affect competition; "nonmajor rules" refer to anything else. The two categories have different procedures for approval but both would require a joint resolution from Congress.

Rules that modify or establish a regulatory program for any commercial, recreational or subsistence activity related to hunting, fishing or camping would be excluded.

The provision is similar to the controversial "REINS Act," a piece of legislation that would require congressional approval of all rules that have an economic impact of at least $100 million. The bill passed the House last year; Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) have filed a separate amendment to insert the act into the farm bill.

More amendments

Also filed yesterday:

• A pair of amendments by Boozman to prohibit federal funds from being used to install ethanol blender pumps. A separate amendment by Boozman would prohibit states and the federal government from invoking eminent domain to take over farms, ranches or forestland for development reasons.

• An amendment by Sen. Mark Begich (R-Alaska) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would require the government to disclose the names of all individual and entities that have received crop insurance subsidies. Environmental Working Group, a watchdog that tracks farmer subsidies, today praised the measure.

• An amendment by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) that would expand crop insurance for producers of organic crops.

• Another amendment by Merkley that would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to examine how to help landowners whose crops are damaged by Canada geese.

• An amendment by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) that would ensure that funds are directed toward groundwater conservation to recharge multistate aquifers that have been depleted.

• An amendment by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and several other GOP senators that would set aside funding to provide technical assistance and training to help implement the Safe Drinking Water Act in small and rural communities.

• An amendment by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to sunset the economic stimulus plan of 2009 on June 30 of this year, instead of Oct. 31, 2013.

• An amendment by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) that would reduce fees for cabin users on National Forest System land.