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Forest Owners Commend House Committee for Supporting EPA Forest Roads Rules
WASHINGTON, DC, August 1, 2012– The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) commends the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for bipartisan support of H.R. 2541, legislation to preserve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 35-years of successful regulation of forest roads under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The legislation, reported unanimously out of Committee today, would prevent a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (NEDC v. Brown) from taking effect. The Ninth Circuit ruled last year that forest roads are “point sources” of water pollution requiring industrial discharge permits typically applied to factories and sewage plants under the CWA.
“We thank the Committee for its bipartisan leadership on legislation providing legal certainty for private forest owners that provide millions of jobs and environmental benefits, like clean water, to communities across America,” said Dave Tenny, NAFO President and CEO. “The Committee’s action is an affirmative step forward to preserve a very successful EPA policy by fixing a Ninth Circuit ruling that was clearly wrong. The Committee’s support of EPA’s policy is shared by the Solicitor General, 29 attorneys general, the Administration, forest owners and other supporters of working forests throughout the U.S.”
The Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act (HR 2541) was introduced by Representatives Jamie Herrera Buetler (R-WA) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) July 14, 2011 and supported by 61 cosponsors. As an interim step, Congress took action last December in the Fiscal Year 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act to prevent the Ninth Circuit ruling from taking effect but that expires September 30, 2012.
The Solicitor General in his May 24 brief to the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that the Ninth Circuit ruling was wrong, yet recommended the Court not review the case because “the complex regulatory issues can be addressed more definitively and in a more nuanced fashion by Congress and [EPA].”
Although the Supreme Court announced in June that it will review the case, Congressional action is necessary to provide legal certainty.
Shortly after the CWA was enacted in 1972, the EPA recognized forest management activities as non-point sources most effectively regulated under state administered best management practices (BMPs). BMPs are designed to adapt to a diversity of forest conditions across a broad landscape and provide flexibility to address concerns if and when they arise. The success of BMPs enables the EPA to rank forestry as a “minor contributor” to sediment runoff.
“Today’s advancement of legislation confirms 35 years of success using BMPs,” Tenny said. “Requiring a permit would significantly increase costs, management complexities and exposure to lawsuits from private citizens without making our rivers and streams any cleaner. Maintaining BMPs will preserve clean water, good paying jobs in rural America and a strong investment in sustainable forestry.”
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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental benefits of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 80 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. To see the full economic impact of America’s working forests, visit www.nafoalliance.org/economic-impact-report.
2012-08-01 16:47:56
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