WASHINGTON—In its ongoing battle against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, regulations for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the American Farm Bureau Federation argued last week that the EPA is violating the Clean Water Act.

Attorneys for the AFBF delivered legal arguments stating that states in the bay watershed, not the federal government, are authorized by law to decide how best to achieve water quality goals.

Virginia Farm Bureau Federation supports the federal lawsuit filed in 2011 by AFBF and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Farm Bureau has argued that voluntary best management practices, if tracked correctly, would provide evidence that farmers already are reducing and preventing soil erosion and water contamination.

AFBF delivered oral arguments and answered questions during a lengthy session before Judge Sylvia H. Rambo in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, Pa.

“Judge Rambo clearly believes this case is important and involves complex legal questions,” said AFBF General Counsel Ellen Steen. “She had carefully studied the parties’ arguments and was active in her questioning. At the end of a very long day of arguments, she told the parties not to expect a quick decision.”

Contact Tracy Taylor Grondine, 202-406-3642, or Mace Thornton, 202-406-3641, AFBF public relations.