"WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency, admitting that 'we haven’t had the best relationship with the agriculture industry in the past,' is beginning a push for a proposed new water rule that has generated strong opposition from farm communities.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy will be in Missouri Wednesday and Thursday to talk up the rule with farmers and agribusiness leaders. Included will be a farm visit in Rocheport, Mo., on Wednesday, and a speech on Thursday at the Kansas City Agribusiness Council Luncheon.

Republican lawmakers in both houses of Congress are pushing back against the proposed 'Waters of the U.S.' rule, saying it oversteps federal authority and would bring routine farm practices under the purview of government regulators. In the Senate, Sen. Pat Roberts is one of more than 30 senators to co-sponsor legislation to prevent the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing the rule."

Chris Adams reports for the McClatchy Washington Bureau July 8, 2014. [2]