Farmers Freedom Act of 2025

Mike Rounds

Republican · SD · Senator

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• John Barrasso (R-WY)Original· 2025-02-27
• John Hoeven (R-ND)Original· 2025-02-27
• John Thune (R-SD)Original· 2025-02-27
• Roger Marshall (R-KS)Original· 2025-02-27
• John Kennedy (R-LA)· 2025-04-11
• Joni Ernst (R-IA)· 2025-04-11

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

2025-02-27

Source: Congress.gov

Farmers Freedom Act of 2025 This bill excludes certain prior converted cropland from permit requirements under the Clean Water Act, including Section 404 permits for discharges of dredged materials into waters of the United States (WOTUS). The exclusion applies to areas that were converted to cropland prior to December 23, 1985. However, the bill does not exclude an area that has reverted to wetlands and has not been used for agricultural purposes in five years. In recent years, there has not been regulatory consistency about which cropland, such as cropland that has reverted to wetlands, is protected under the scope of the act as WOTUS. In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the Navigable Waters Protection Rule that, among other provisions, defined prior converted cropland in order to specify which cropland is excluded from the scope of the act. However, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona vacated the rule in Pascua Yaqui Tribe v. EPA . In 2023, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers issued another rule that excluded prior converted cropland from the scope of the act, but they defined the exclusion more narrowly than the exclusion in the 2020 rule. Similar to the 2020 rule, this bill broadens the exclusion. The bill determines the scope of the exclusion by defining the term prior converted cropland in statute .

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 795 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 795 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to exclude prior converted cropland from the definition of ``navigable waters'', and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 27, 2025 Mr. Rounds (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Thune, Mr. Hoeven, and Mr. Marshall) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to exclude prior converted cropland from the definition of ``navigable waters'', and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Farmers Freedom Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. PRIOR CONVERTED CROPLAND. (a) In General.--Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following: ``(7) Navigable waters.-- ``(A) In general.--The term `navigable waters' means the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas. ``(B) Exclusion.--The term `navigable waters' does not include prior converted cropland. ``(C) Associated definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph: ``(i) Abandoned.--The term `abandoned', with respect to an area that was prior converted cropland, means that the area was not used for, or in support of, agricultural purposes at least once in the immediately preceding 5-year period, as determined by the Administrator. ``(ii) Agricultural purpose.--The term `agricultural purpose' includes land use that makes the production of an agricultural product possible, including-- ``(I) grazing and haying; ``(II) idling land for conservation use, such as habitat management, pollinator and wildlife management, water storage and supply management, and flood management; ``(III) irrigation tailwater storage; ``(IV) farm-raised fish production; ``(V) cranberry bogs; ``(VI) nutrient retention; and ``(VII) idling land for soil recovery after natural disasters such as hurricanes and drought. ``(iii) Prior converted cropland.-- ``(I) In general.--The term `prior converted cropland' means any area that, prior to December 23, 1985, was drained or otherwise manipulated for the purpose, or having the effect, of making production of an agricultural product possible, including such areas that are designated as prior converted cropland by the Secretary of Agriculture. ``(II) Exclusion.--The term `prior converted cropland' does not include an area that is abandoned and has reverted to wetlands. ``(iv) Wetlands.--The term `wetlands' means an area that is inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.''. (b) Prohibition on Change in Use Policy.--In carrying out the amendments made by this section, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, may not, with respect to prior converted cropland, carry out the change in use policy described in the final rule of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers entitled ``Revised Definition of `Waters of the United States''' (88 Fed. Reg. 3004 (January 18, 2023)) or a substantially similar policy. <all>

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