Rep. Mark Green: Why I oppose Biden's Waters of the United States rule | Opinion

Despite being a first-generation farmer, Charlie Hancock takes extreme pride in his occupation. “Like George Washington,” he said, “I want to be remembered as a farmer.”

Charlie runs a farm in Stewart County, Tennessee, that grows corn, soybeans, wheat, tobacco, and even runs a cow-calf operation.

Given Tennessee’s diverse topography, Charlie farms in hills and valleys, so he is extremely familiar with water flowing through his property. As it has been for every farmer before him, rain is crucial for his farm’s success.

The blessing of rain, however, may soon be a curse. As the Biden administration prepares to enact its rule defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS), farmers like Charlie face enormous uncertainty and potentially catastrophic lawsuits—even criminal charges—that could signal the end of small farms and ranchers.

Once this rule goes into effect, all it could take is a healthy amount of rain to accumulate in a ditch to bring the feds to your farm.

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Certainty is a necessity in business

The battle over what counts as “WOTUS” has raged for decades, ping-ponging back and forth between different administrations. Most recently, former President Trump rescinded and replaced a deeply flawed Obama-era rule with a definition that gave farmers and ranchers certainty over what constitutes WOTUS for the purposes of environmental compliance.

As every small business owner knows, certainty is an absolute necessity — especially when it comes to complying with confusing and costly environmental regulations.

But now the Biden administration is repealing the Trump-era rule giving farmers and ranchers a severe case of regulatory whiplash. In its place, President Biden is instituting a rule that allows Washington bureaucrats to arbitrarily determine, on a case-by-case basis, what constitutes WOTUS.

This means that what counts as WOTUS on your farm might not count as WOTUS on my farm, but there is no way to know in advance. In other words, you better be good at guessing or else you might end up facing criminal charges or exorbitant fines.

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‘Too much regulation (will be) tough on us’

When Charlie spoke with my office regarding WOTUS, he expressed concern that if a bureaucrat claims federal jurisdiction over the water on his farm, it could cause confusion.

As a law-abiding citizen, he said he would try to follow the rules but was not confident he would have the clarity to do so.

“As a farmer, it’s my number one priority to take care of the water and the soil because it’s our livelihood now and our livelihood in the future.”

When asked how he believed WOTUS would affect his farm, Charlie said, “As we get more rules and regulations it’s hard to find someone in the bureaucracy to give you a straight answer. We, as farmers, are ruled more by commonsense. To be good stewards of the land, we need to be given the right on our land to do what we think is best. … If there’s too much regulation, it’s going to be tough on us.”

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This issue affects citizens nationwide

In case you think that Charlie is being dramatic, consider the case of Michael and Chantall Sackett.

This couple began building a three-bedroom home on their private property in Idaho, which has no continuous surface connection to a lake, river, or stream, when bureaucrats showed up to their property and ordered them to halt construction and restore the land to its previous state. Naturally, the Sackett’s challenged this overreach, and their case has climbed all the way up to the Supreme Court as Sackett v. EPA. 

The outcome of this case will have significant ramifications for the WOTUS issue, yet despite the pleas of farmers, ranchers, and over a hundred organizations, the Biden administration refuses to wait for the Supreme Court’s impending decision.

Only a few weeks ago, my House Republican colleagues and I passed a resolution to formally rescind the Biden administration’s poorly guided policy, but without the Senate’s concurrence, the D.C. bureaucrats will continue with their plans.

Charlie said it best: “It’s a private property rights issue. The administration telling us what we can and can’t do on our own property is an overreach. Lawmakers need to be reasonable about the rules and laws they place upon us.”

More:Exceptional Black farmers and their fight to flourish in the South

Don’t make Tennessee’s agricultural industry go stagnant

Our farmers and ranchers are the backbone of the American economy, and they know better than anyone else how to keep their lands healthy and sustainable.

Washington bureaucrats need to get out of their way, rather than innovating new ways to fine hardworking Americans out of business.

As Charlie said, “I sure don’t want to be remembered as the farmer who government regulations helped put out of business.”

We should be doing everything in our power to support our nation’s growers — not making their lives harder. I will not stop fighting for our farmers. I represent thousands in Tennessee, each of them with unique situations that may be impacted by this plan. Tennessee is a beautiful state—and no one is a better steward of the land than our farmers and growers.

If this rule goes forward, Tennessee’s agricultural industry—one of our top economic generators—could suffer.

Congressman Mark Green, R-Clarksville, is a physician, combat veteran, and businessman who represents the 7^th District of Tennessee in Congress. He served three tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and interviewed Saddam Hussein for six hours on the night of his capture. He is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Rep. Mark Green: Why I oppose Biden's Waters of the United States rule