,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #acjd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #bj1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,walberg introduced the following  
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 and
 in addition to the ,committee on       
,transportation and ,infrastructure1 for
 a period to be subsequently determined 
by the ,speaker1 in each case for       
consideration of such provisions as fall
 within the jurisdiction of the         
committee concerned  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
permit the chief executive of a ,state  
to create an exemption from certain     
requirements of ,federal environmental  
laws for producers of agricultural      
commodities1 and for other purposes4    
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,flexibility to ,farm ,act4  #b4
 ,findings ,congress finds the          
following3  7#a7 ,the agricultural      
community of the ,united ,states serves 
as the economic backbone of many        
communities and employs millions of     

,americans4  7#b7 ,in recent years1     
one-size-fits-all policies issued by the
 ,environmental ,protection ,agency have
 increased dramatically1 requiring      
agricultural producers to focus on      
regulation compliance rather than on    
growing the world's healthiest1 most    
abundant food supply4  7#c7 ,attempts by
 the ,environmental ,protection ,agency 
to expand the definition of navigable   
waters under the ,federal ,water        
,pollution ,control ,act expand the     
scope of ,federal jurisdiction under    
that ,act well beyond the intent of     
,congress1 and would eliminate a central
 precept of that ,act1 which reserves   
certain waters to the exclusive         
jurisdiction of the ,states4  7#d7 ,the 
,environmental ,protection ,agency's    
interpretation of the ,spill            
,prevention1 ,control1 and              
,countermeasure program has attempted to
 regulate milk in the same manner as    
petroleum1 requiring dairy farmers to   
develop oil spill prevention plans and  

moving far beyond common sense and the  
intent of the law4  7#e7 ,an increasing 
number of poultry and livestock         
operations have been forced to apply for
 permits under the ,national ,pollutant 
,discharge ,elimination ,system         
resulting from the ,environmental       
,protection ,agency's expanding         
definition of what constitutes a        
discharge under the ,federal ,water     
,pollution ,control ,act4  7#f7         
,duplicative and costly permitting      
requirements under the ,federal ,water  
,pollution ,control ,act will require   
additional ,national ,pollutant         
,discharge ,elimination ,system permits 
for pesticide applications1 subjecting  
pesticide users to unnecessary red tape 
and financial burdens while exposing    
them to the threat of unfounded         
litigation4  7#g7 ,the ,environmental   
,protection ,agency has initiated a     
program to regulate greenhouse gases as 
air pollutants under the ,clean ,air    
,act1 which could impose an undue burden

 on agricultural producers by requiring 
them to obtain permits to continue      
operations4  7#h7 ,the ,federal         
,government should not impose further   
rules or regulations that are overly    
burdensome or cause economic hardship   
for the agricultural community4  #c4    
,unduly burdensome regulations exemption
  7a7 ,in general ,if the chief         
executive of a ,state determines1 in    
accordance with this section1 that a    
requirement of a covered ,federal       
environmental law1 or a regulation      
thereunder1 is unduly burdensome to     
persons in the ,state acting in their   
capacity as farmers1 such requirement or
 regulation shall not apply to persons  
in the ,state acting in that capacity4  
7b7 ,procedure ,before finalizing any   
determination under subsection 7a71 the 
chief executive of a ,state shall       
solicit and accept public comments      
regarding such determination for a      
period of not less than #ij days4  7c7  
,definitions ,in this ,act3  7#a7       

,covered ,federal environmental law ,the
 term covered ,federal environmental law
 means--  7,a7 the ,clean ,air ,act 7#db
 ,u4,s4,c4 #gdja et seq471 insofar as   
such ,act applies to emissions of air   
pollutants other than emissions         
resulting from the combustion of any    
fossil fuel2 and  7,b7 the ,federal     
,water ,pollution ,control ,act 7#cc    
,u4,s4,c4 #abea et seq474  7#b7 ,farmer 
,the term farmer means--  7,a7 a        
producer1 as that term is defined in--  
7i7 section #ajja of the ,food1         
,conservation1 and ,energy ,act of #bjjh
 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #hgjb72  7ii7 section    
#aejf7;a7 of the ,food1 ,conservation1  
and ,energy ,act of #bjjh 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 
#hggc7;a772 and  7iii7 section #bab of  
the ,agricultural ,marketing ,act of    
#aidf 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #afce;a72 and  7,b7 
a producer of a specialty crop1 as that 
term is defined in section #c of the    
,specialty ,crops ,competitiveness ,act 
of #bjjd 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #afba note2      
,public ,law #ajh-dfe74  7#c7 ,state    

,the term ,state means any of the       
several ,states of the ,united ,states1 
the ,district of ,columbia1 the         
,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico1 the     
,united ,states ,virgin ,islands1 ,guam1
 ,american ,samoa1 the ,commonwealth of 
the ,northern ,mariana ,islands1 and any
 other territory or possession of the   
,united ,states4