Lawmakers eye EPA’s impact on agriculture

By Marc Heller | 07/08/2024 06:36 AM EDT

A hearing will likely touch on sore points like pesticides, water issues and climate change.

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.).

House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.). He called up a hearing for this week on whether EPA has hurt farmers and ranchers. Francis Chung/POLITICO

The House Agriculture Committee will take testimony this week on how environmental policies affect farmers, with likely conflicts over pesticide restrictions and the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce emissions related to climate change.

Regulations to limit pollution in waterways — the “Waters of the U.S” regulations — are also atop Republicans’ agenda, for the impact they could have on streams or other minor bodies of water.

Committee Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) has complained that agriculture is overregulated, with EPA at the center of those objections.

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“From my vantage point, it appears EPA and USDA are not only playing in one another’s sandbox, but are perpetuating wrongheaded priorities: EPA wants to dictate what producers grow, and how to grow it, and USDA is laser focused on expanding funding and policies related to climate,” Thompson told EPA Administrator Michael Regan at a hearing last year.

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