Missouri Agriculture Director testifies before U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn testified before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture last week.

As director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Chinn plays a crucial role in protecting the well-being of farmers and consumers while ensuring the vitality of Missouri’s diverse food supply within her state and beyond.

Chinn’s testimony focused on challenges faced by states in their role as co-regulators with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency while also emphasizing recent successful cooperation.

During her testimony, Chinn underscored the need for federal agencies to more meaningfully include state departments of agriculture in conversations concerning regulatory policymaking, more commonly known as cooperative federalism.

Chinn stated that a collaborative approach from the EPA would elevate state departments of agriculture’s critical contributions as co-regulatory partners while reducing the negative effects of burdensome mandates on American agriculture.

When discussing the EPA’s Vulnerable Species Pilot Project and Herbicide Strategy in the 2022 Endangered Species Act Workplan Update, Chinn noted how a lack of collaboration from the EPA resulted in frameworks that were not feasible for the agriculture community.

Chinn expressed additional concern about regulations regarding the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ revisions and inaction of implementation of the 2023 Waters of the U.S. rule after the Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court decision.

Despite these concerns, Chinn applauded the EPA’s efforts in incorporating cooperative federalism objectives into various regulatory policy developments. This includes the agency forming the Animal Agriculture and Water Quality Federal Advisory Subcommittee and the successful Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force.