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<br />0010n <br /> <br />Additionally, there is authority under the Act for the imposition of a permit process to <br /> <br />control agricultural pollution, although the Act lacks enforcement. authority. H a permit <br /> <br /> <br />program is developed, consideration should be given to the potential difficulty in monitoring <br /> <br />discharges and enforcing regulatiom for agricultural pollution. <br /> <br />Use of Soil Conservation Service, One alternative suggested to regulation under the <br /> <br /> <br />Clean Water Act was the use of Soil Conservation Service (SCS) employees who are currently <br /> <br /> <br />located in every county across the country, They are able to work with individual farme~ and <br /> <br /> <br />could develop plans. Although the SCS has little funding today, they were originally a well- <br /> <br />funded agency with the capability to deal with issues such as comervatioD and water quality. In <br /> <br /> <br />a limited, low-key way, tbe agency is making progress today and still has expertise on tbese <br /> <br />issues, <br /> <br />The challenge may be in developing a way to bring together the SCS people together <br /> <br /> <br />with the irrigation district boards to develop management plam. Generally, these two groups <br /> <br /> <br />hold differeDt ideologies, The state of Oregon specifically gives the SCS greater influence in <br /> <br />irrigation district matte~, <br /> <br />The drafte~ of the' 1991 farm bill affirmed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture <br /> <br /> <br />(not the EPA) will have primacy over agricultural ground water quality. The bill may not lead <br /> <br /> <br />to actual changes, however, because it mandates research rather than implementation, The <br /> <br />drafters considered requiring farms with highly erodible lands to implement a plan. <br />Unfortunately, the current standards, developed by the Soil Conservation Service, are thought <br />by many to be too low to ensure protection of the water quality. Additionally, the SCS model <br />. . . . . , <br /> <br />33 <br />