Here is the op-ed.

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9th U.S. Circuit’s harmful discharge

July 27. 2011

If this year is like most years, there will be millions more spent on fighting fires on federal lands than on thinning. The U.S. Fire Service — sorry — U.S. Forest Service said in March its firefighting costs have doubled in the last decade, totaling $1 billion in 2009. Why?

Forest policy is regulated by an epidemic of litigation and appeals. Logging and even thinning projects meet lawsuits.

That same forest mismanagement is coming to other forest lands, threatening state and private forests and the wobbly Oregon timber industry.

For about 35 years, the policy has been that states regulate the water runoff from nurseries, reforestation, thinning, harvesting and road-building. That will change. The Northwest Environmental Defense Center won a lawsuit recently before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court’s interpretation of the law means that every source of runoff on forest roads will have to get an industrial stormwater runoff permit. New roads will need permits. The hundreds of thousands of miles of existing public and private roads in Oregon forests will need permits.

The decision could spawn lawsuits galore. Every time a permit is approved there would be an opportunity for appeal and litigation. That could curtail the ability of Oregon to manage its state forests to help raise money for schools. It could well delay or halt even private forestry on private lands.

This is not an issue of protecting clean water or not. It’s an issue of how water should be protected.

In fact, it’s Sen. Ron Wyden and Gov. John Kitzhaber, both Democrats and committed to protecting the environment, who are leading efforts to fight the decision.

Wyden has co-sponsored legislation that would amend the Clean Water Act to make clear Congress wants states to regulate forestry runoff. On Monday, Kitzhaber asked the Oregon Department of Justice to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 9th Circuit’s decision.

“I’m not arguing with the outcome sought by the plaintiffs in this litigation: to improve forest road management and curtail impacts that result in harmful discharges to streams and degradation of water quality and fish habitat,” Kitzhaber said in a statement. “However, we are at a point in the history of our management of forest lands where we need to develop stability, consensus, and collaboration, not management by lawsuit.”

Regulation by litigation puts the power of public policy in the hands of private groups that file lawsuits. It takes it away from the elected branches of government.

What that has done in forest policy is create incompetent forest management. Let’s not bring that incompetence to state forests and private forest lands.

WASHINGTON (July 14, 2011) – The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) voiced support for legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress to affirm the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of forestry as a nonpoint source under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The legislation corrects a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that struck down EPA’s Clean Water Act regulation for forest roads. The decision reversed an Oregon court’s ruling that stormwater control systems for forest roads do not need point source permits in addition to meeting existing CWA requirements. The EPA’s regulation defines forestry activities and roads as nonpoint sources that are regulated by states through Best Management Practices (BMPs) rather than through permits required for confined industrial sites.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, “For 35 years the EPA has contended that the most effective way to regulate forestry activities under the Clean Water Act is to treat them as nonpoint sources of water pollution. We agree –three decades of experience demonstrates that forestry is a minor contributor to water quality decline and is best covered by state regulations and guidelines. Today, Congress took the first steps to affirm EPA’s correct interpretation of the Clean Water Act.

“If the legislation isn’t enacted, the Ninth Circuit decision will add job-killing costs and invite litigation to rural areas hardest hit by the economic downturn without corresponding environmental benefit. Overlaying a CWA permit requirement onto forestry activities will push more private forests into non-forest uses with greater impacts on water quality. The resulting loss of jobs and forests undermines the goal of preserving working landscapes that support rural families, wildlife habitat, clean water and recreation opportunities across the country.

“We urge Congress and the Administration to work together to enact this legislation as soon as possible to restore regulatory stability preserve the jobs that keep private forests working for America.”

The legislation is being led by Senators Wyden (D-OR), Crapo (R-ID), Risch (R-ID), and Begich (D-AK) and Reps. Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3), Schrader (D-OR-5), Walden (R-OR-2), McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5), Pingree (D-ME-1), and Michaud (D-ME-2).  More information on this issue is available at www.nafoalliance.org/water.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 80 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Private, working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. View NAFO’s interactive map to see the economic impact of America’s working forests.

WASHINGTON (June 21, 2011) – The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011. The legislation affirms that pesticide application for activities such as forest management, crop protection, and public health is effectively regulated through the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and does not require a duplicative NPDES permit. The House approved the bill in March with over 2/3rds voting in support.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, said:

The members of the Agriculture Committee took positive action today to protect the environment and human health while ensuring America’s agriculture and forestry sectors remain the most productive and sustainable in the world.

The legislation simply affirms that FIFRA effectively regulates pesticide application and the EPA’s treatment of forestry under the Clean Water Act for the past four decades. The system in place is a national success story for improving water quality and should not be changed because of judicial forum-shopping by opponents to sustainable forestry. Duplicative permitting and regulatory requirements will further erode the economic viability of forests – forcing many into more economic, non-forest uses.

Now, the full Senate must act quickly to enact H.R. 872 before the court-ordered deadline of October 31, 2011 for EPA to establish the redundant NPDES permit program.
The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) urged support of H.R. 872 in a statement to the House Committee on Oversight and Regulation, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs.

To learn more about the framework of laws, regulations, and agreements that regulate private forestry in the United States, visit www.nafoalliance.org/environment.

WASHINGTON – The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) reacted today to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision to deny rehearing en banc in the case of NEDC v. Brown. Last August, a three-judge panel overturned an Oregon court’s ruling that stormwater control systems for forest roads do not need point source permits in addition to meeting existing Clean Water Act requirements. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulations define forestry activities as nonpoint sources that are regulated by states and do not need permits similar to confined industrial sites.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, “Since the promulgation of the Clean Water Act regulations in 1976, the EPA has contended that the most effective way to regulate forestry activities under the statute is to treat them as nonpoint sources of water pollution. EPA was right – forestry is a minor contributor to water quality decline that three decades of experience has demonstrated is best covered by state regulations and guidelines. Unfortunately, the Ninth Circuit has tossed aside this science-based record of successful forest policy through an unprecedented re-interpretation of established law.

“Heaping new and unnecessary permit requirements on top of forests that already lead the world in environmental quality will add job-killing costs and litigation to rural areas hardest hit by the economic downturn. Instead of improving the environment, this action will cause forest owners to struggle even more against the economic forces that drive forestland into other uses that threaten water quality. The resulting loss of jobs and forests undermines the goal of preserving working landscapes that support rural families, wildlife habitat, clean water and recreation opportunities across the country.

“Now it is time for the EPA, states, the Administration and Congress to work together on policy to re-affirm forestry’s long standing nonpoint source status under the Clean Water Act and preserve the jobs, environmental quality and other public benefits our forests provide.”

Previously, NAFO filed an amicus brief in support of the defendants in NEDC v. Brown.

More information is available at www.nafoalliance.org/water-quality.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 80 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Private, working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. View NAFO’s interactive map to see the economic impact of America’s working forests.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved (292-130) H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011. The legislation affirms that pesticide application for activities such as forest management, crop protection, and public health is effectively regulated through the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and does not require duplicative EPA permits.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, said:

Today over two-thirds of the House voted to affirm the EPA’s treatment of forestry under the Clean Water Act for the past 35 years. Current Clean Water Act programs that work cooperatively with forest owners are a national success story for improving water quality and should not be undone by one bad court decision. Unnecessary permits and regulations won’t improve water quality and will only make private forests more costly to manage and threaten the jobs they support. Now is not the time to put new burdens on struggling rural economies. Today’s House action strongly supports this view.

We are fortunate that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently granted EPA’s request to extend the deadline for implementing the National Cotton Council v. EPA decision to October 31, 2011. This gives the Senate time to consider the House legislation. The Senate should act swiftly to bring regulatory certainty to America’s farmers and forest owners and remove an unnecessary government burden that hurts rural economies and costs rural jobs.

The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) urged support of H.R. 872 in a statement to the House Committee on Oversight and Regulation, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs.

To learn more about the framework of laws, regulations, and agreements that regulate private forestry in the United States, visit www.nafoalliance.org/environment.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 79 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Private, working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. View NAFO’s interactive map to see the economic impact of America’s working forests.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 9, 2011) — Today the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) told the House Committee on Oversight and Regulation, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs that changes in several EPA regulations could shift the economics of private forestry in the U.S., pushing more land into non-forest uses and costing U.S. jobs.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, informed the Subcommittee that laws, regulations, and policies that work with rather than against the marketplace have made the U.S. a world leader in sustainable forest management, by protecting rivers and streams, promoting forest growth, and providing homes and products to American families, “Private forests in the U.S. provide over 2.5 million jobs and $87 billion in wages to American families. They are also recognized as the most sustainable forests in the world. This is due to the effective relationship between markets that make forest ownership economical and a carefully tailored legal and policy framework. Layering on duplicative and unnecessary regulations upsets this balance and threatens the economic viability of forest ownership, placing at risk rural jobs and the environmental and the many public benefits private forests provide. Pushed too hard, ill-advised regulation can force forestland into other land uses that prove to be more economically valuable.”

Tenny stressed that private forests serve as the nation’s filter for air quality and should be supported by federal policies under the Clean Air Act, “EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations must recognize that forest biomass used for energy recycles carbon from the atmosphere through tree growth and reduces overall carbon in the atmosphere.”

Tenny further emphasized that forests protect water quality under carefully tailored Clean Water Act policies, “State administered best management practices (BMPs) have been a national success story for improving water quality. The EPA should support existing policies and avoid adding new and unnecessary permitting and paperwork costs with no corresponding environmental benefit.”

Several proposed EPA regulations and recent court decisions threaten private forestlands and the jobs they support. Tenny singled out:

• Renewable energy, an important market for forest biomass. EPA’s proposal to regulate biomass energy carbon emissions the same as fossil fuels threatens the future of this renewable energy source. Tenny urged Congress to hold the EPA to its promise to defer the regulation of biomass energy carbon emissions for three years and conduct an unbiased study of biomass carbon emissions.
• Pesticide application, a limited but important forestry tool. The EPA has effectively regulated pesticide application under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which requires safe pesticide application to protect people, wildlife, and water quality. Because of a court decision, EPA is in the process of adding new overlapping regulations under the Clean Water Act – a duplicative and unnecessary requirement that is confusing, costly and ultimately harmful to good forest stewardship. Tenny urged Congress to support H.R. 872 to affirm the original intent of Congress that pesticide application is best regulated under FIFRA and does not need additional and redundant regulation under other laws.
• Forest roads, the vital infrastructure for forest management and recreational access. Private and public forest managers depend on well maintained roads to harvest, replant and manage forests while also providing public recreation access. A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals changed the decades-long policy of EPA that forest roads maintained to meet state water quality best management practices (BMP)s under the Clean Water Act, will also require federal permits typically required for factories and other confined industrial sites. The Ninth Circuit is currently reviewing the case en banc. Tenny asked Congress to be prepared to take legislative action, if necessary, to affirm the EPA’s long-standing policy.

For more information on these issues, please read NAFO’s fact sheets on biomass energy, forest roads, pesticide applications, and a white paper on the existing framework of laws, regulations, agreements, and non-regulatory policies that govern private forestry in the U.S.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 79 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Private, working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. View NAFO’s interactive map to see the economic impact of America’s working forests.

David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, told the Committees that existing laws, regulations and policies, developed and successfully implemented over several decades, protect water quality, promote forest retention, and maintain public benefits, “Private forests in the U.S. provide over 2.5 million jobs and $87 billion in wages to American families. They are also recognized as the most sustainable forests in the world, in large part because of the effective relationship between markets that support the long-term economics of forest ownership and a carefully tailored legal and policy framework adapted to local environmental conditions and needs. Layering on duplicative and unnecessary national regulations introduces significant costs that threaten the economic viability of forest ownership placing at risk rural jobs and the environmental and public benefits private forests provide. Pushed too hard, excessive regulation can force forestland into other land uses that prove to be more economically valuable.”

Tenny stressed that water quality is protected and enhanced under existing laws, “Best management practices (BMPs) and existing federal laws and regulations have a proven track record of improving water quality. The EPA should support existing policies to avoid unnecessary regulatory costs with no corresponding marginal environmental benefit.”

To help conserve working forests and the jobs they support, Tenny urged Congress to, “re-affirm once and for all its 1972 intent that forest management is a nonpoint source and that pesticides are to be regulated under the rigorous procedures of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.”

For more information on these issues, please visit www.nafoalliance.org for fact sheets on forest roads, pesticide applications, and a white paper on the existing framework of laws, regulations, agreements, and non-regulatory policies that govern private forestry in the U.S.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 79 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Private, working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. View NAFO’s interactive map to see the economic impact of America’s working forests.

Dear Senators-

We write today in opposition to S.1816, The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act, and to an 11th-hour effort to include this highly controversial legislation in the potential Lands, Waters and Wildlife omnibus legislation that may come to the Senate floor in the closing days of the 111^th Congress. While there has been a commendable effort on both sides of the aisle to develop bi-partisan legislation relating to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, a final agreement has not yet been reached. We remain strongly opposed to S. 1816 as written and urge you to oppose any effort to push through a massive piece of legislation that includes the provisions of S.1816.

Recently, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), proponents of S.1816, stated in an October 29, 2010 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the legislation would not substantially alter the Clean Water Act by providing the EPA with a vast expansion of authority.  That assertion cannot be reconciled with the provisions of S. 1816.  S.1816 would in fact fundamentally alter the State-Federal relationship within the watershed and enact unprecedented changes to the Clean Water Act.  In order to provide you an overview of exactly how S.1816 would alter the Clean Water Act, we have attached a side-by-side comparison chart that explains the primary areas of concern. While these provisions would apply in six states and the District of Columbia, EPA has repeatedly said that it views the Chesapeake Bay as the model for regulatory action in other major watersheds, such as the Mississippi River Basin.

Furthermore, the CBF claimed that the tough measures found in S. 1816 are justified based on the results of the draft USDA Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Practices on Cultivated Cropland in the Chesapeake Bay Region showing the contributions of agriculture to the Bay.  In order to evaluate claims such as these, a number of organizations with interest in the Bay asked LimnoTech, one of the nation’s leading water sciences and environmental engineering consulting firms, to compare the assumptions and numbers found in the USDA study and the EPA’s TMDL.  The comparison revealed astounding differences between USDA and EPA data concerning pollutant loadings for the Chesapeake Bay.  The technical conclusions reached by LimnoTech about the implications of the very different data used by USDA and EPA call into serious question the validity of EPA’s scientific conclusions regarding the role of agriculture as a source of pollutants and the need for the overly aggressive measures now called for by EPA.  For example, the USDA study suggests that agriculture has already met EPA’s proposed allocations for phosphorus and sediments and that it is not technically feasible for agriculture to meet the targets for nitrogen without taking nearly half of the cropland out of agricultural production. The analysis conducted by LimnoTech can be found at (http://nutrientpolicy.org/ANPC_News.html).

The agriculture sector in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed has a strong history of being a responsible and proactive environmental steward, both through compliance with existing regulations and through implementation of voluntary conservation practices.  We are all supportive of common-sense, cooperative approaches to solving water quality problems within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  Unfortunately, this legislation falls far short of that approach.

We strongly urge you to reject any legislation that includes this vast expansion of EPA’s control over land and water resources.

Sincerely,

Agricultural Retailers Association
Agri-Mark, Inc.
Agrotain International, L.L.C.
American Feed Industry Association
American Horse Council
American Meat Institute
CF Industries
Dairy Farmers of America
Dairy Producers of New Mexico
Dairy Producers of Utah
Dairylea Cooperative, Inc.
Delaware Maryland Agribusiness Association
American Farm Bureau Federation
Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association
Maryland Grain Producers Association
Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers
Michigan Agri-Business Association
Missouri Agribusiness Association
Mosaic
National Alliance of Forest Owners
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
National Chicken Council
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
National Milk Producers Federation
National Pork Producers Council
National Turkey Federation
Northeast Dairy Farmers Cooperatives
PotashCorp
Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment
Select Milk Producers Inc.
South Dakota Agri-Business Association
South East Dairy Farmers Association
St. Albans Cooperative
Texas Association of Dairymen
Texas Cattle Feeders Association
The Fertilizer Institute
United Egg Producers
Upstate-Niagara Cooperative
U.S. Cattlemen’s Association
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
Virginia Agribusiness Council
Virginia Cattlemen’s Association
Virginia Farm Bureau
Virginia Poultry Federation
Wyoming Ag Business Association
West Virginia Poultry Association

WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL RESOUTION 2010
SUPPORTING FOREST PRODUCTS JOBS AS ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE
Resolution #20

WHEREAS, supporting Forest Products Jobs through the sustainable Harvest, Transportation, and Manufacturing of wood fiber from Washington State Forest Lands as environmentally safe family wage jobs; and

WHEREAS, forest industry jobs include loggers, log haulers, pulp and paper workers, mill workers and all jobs that lead back to sustainable forests; and

WHEREAS, we recognize wood fiber as environmentally safe, carbon neutral renewable resource; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the WSLC endorses forest product jobs as environmentally safe through the harvest of carbon neutral wood fiber.