Environment Advocacy Position

For nearly 40 years, the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) has recognized that existing laws, regulations, and policies adequately protect water quality during forestry activities.  EPA’s “silviculture rule” (40 C.F.R. § 122.27) defines an exclusive list of four “silvicultural point sources” where CWA (NPDES) permits are required, and classifies all other forestry activities as nonpoint sources that do not require specific permits.   Studies show that state forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) are highly effective at protecting water quality, and are widely employed.  Forest management activities conserve water quality through adherence to state BMPs, tailored for local land and environmental conditions.

Today the greatest threat of deforestation comes from the conversion of forests to non-forest uses that produce a higher economic value.  The families, businesses and individuals that own nearly 60% of our nation’s forests depend on the returns they get from the products their forests produce to make additional investments in sound, long-term forest management.  When regulatory costs are imposed, this reduces the ability to maintain the land as forested and at some point will tip the balance in favor of the non-fore use.  Thus, limiting the scope of regulation to essential functions and avoiding regulatory redundancy will help keep working forests economically viable – conserving forests as forests.

Efficient use of pesticides and herbicides help conserve forests as forests. Forest management is a long term land use with infrequent fertilizer and chemical use.  The use of pesticides and herbicides is regulated under a federal law known as “FIFRA.”  After 40 years of effective implementation, a federal court has now ruled application of these products also requires a permit under the Clean Water Act where application to water has been authorized under FIFRA.

• EPA should implement court instructions in a manner that avoids unnecessarily undermining the agency’s nonpoint treatment of forest management activities.
• Congress should remove the redundant regulation and ensure that forest owners can continue to economically apply herbicides as an essential tool for forest regrowth, since herbicide application, is essential to help young trees compete with other vegetation.

NPDES Permits are Inappropriate for Forest Roads. At the direction of the federal courts, EPA is currently revisiting its 1976 designation of forest roads as a nonpoint source of stormwater pollution. Again, studies show that state BMPs, including those applicable to forest roads, are highly effective at protecting water quality, and are widely employed.  Complicating matters is the interlocking network of private and public ownership of rural road networks, most of which is dedicated to multiple use.  Regulation would likely fall on the very roads where BMPs are effectively employed, adding a redundant and expensive layer of regulation.

• EPA should maintain the status of forest roads as a nonpoint source, or in the alternative use its authority under the Clean Water Act to exclude forest roads from the stormwater permit program.
• Congress should once and for all confirm that forest management is a nonpoint source under the Clean Water Act.