Senate Agriculture Committee Raises Concerns about Proposed RUS Environmental Regulation
In its report accompanying spending legislation for fiscal year 2015, the Senate Agriculture Committee has directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office to provide a report on the impact of a controversial regulation proposed by the USDA. The regulation at issue would reclassify all loan transactions for Rural Utilities Service (RUS) borrowers as “major federal actions,” which would trigger lengthy environmental reviews for many actions taken by RUS borrowers. For more on the Senate agriculture appropriations bill, click here.