California farmer to pay more than $1 million in fines and mitigation under 2015 WOTUS rule - Entrepreneur Generations

Farming lobbies largely objected to the Obama-era rule that redefined what constituted the waters of the United States; this story shows why.

California wheat farmer John Duarte has low-lying spots on his land that hold water a few times a year. Under the old WOTUS rule, these temporarily watery areas wouldn't have counted as waterways, but under the 2015 rule, they do. "Duarte, who runs a farm and nursery in Hughson, California, has been at the center of a federal prosecution and multiple federal lawsuits against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because Duarte tilled vernal pools on his farm. He faced about $2.8 million in fines and upwards of $33 million in mitigation costs to resolve the case," Todd Neeley reports for The Progressive Farmer.

Duarte has agreed to pay $330,000 in fines and to spend $770,000 to mitigate the water drainage problems on his land that put him in violation of the Clean Water Act. The 44 acres of his property that count as U.S. waterways must be left undisturbed for the next 10 years.



from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2vGSKQw California farmer to pay more than $1 million in fines and mitigation under 2015 WOTUS rule - Entrepreneur Generations

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