119th Congress · introduced in the Senate · Feb 27, 2025
Farmers Freedom Act of 2025
Official title from Congress.gov
Latest action (Feb 27, 2025): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
View on Congress.govPolicy area: Environmental Protection
Congressional Research Service summary, version: Introduced in Senate (Feb 27, 2025)
Farmers Freedom Act of 2025
This bill excludes certain prior converted cropland from permit requirements under the Clean Water Act, including Section 404 permits for discharges of dredged materials into waters of the United States (WOTUS). The exclusion applies to areas that were converted to cropland prior to December 23, 1985. However, the bill does not exclude an area that has reverted to wetlands and has not been used for agricultural purposes in five years.
In recent years, there has not been regulatory consistency about which cropland, such as cropland that has reverted to wetlands, is protected under the scope of the act as WOTUS. In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the Navigable Waters Protection Rule that, among other provisions, defined prior converted cropland in order to specify which cropland is excluded from the scope of the act. However, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona vacated the rule in Pascua Yaqui Tribe v. EPA. In 2023, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers issued another rule that excluded prior converted cropland from the scope of the act, but they defined the exclusion more narrowly than the exclusion in the 2020 rule.
Similar to the 2020 rule, this bill broadens the exclusion. The bill determines the scope of the exclusion by defining the term prior converted cropland in statute.
Includes amendment, cloture, and procedural votes. Each is labeled with its exact question; only a passage question is a vote to pass the bill.
No recorded roll calls on this bill in coverage.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Introduced in Senate
Actions from Congress.gov, newest first.
LD-2 reports whose issue descriptions explicitly cite this bill (bill type and number validated against Congress.gov records). A citation does not establish the client's position or any contact with a member.
Loading lobbying reportsCoverage: reports for 2025 onward, posted Jan 1, 2025 through Oct 23, 2026.
4 citations.
PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU · lobbying firm or registrant: PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU
2026 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026) · amended · posted Apr 23, 2026 · issue area: Clean Air and Water (quality)
$10,000
Spent on own lobbying
…concerns and advocated to amend the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition. Concerns on CAFO permitting requirements. SUPPORTED THE FOLLOWING BILLS: - S.795, the Farmers Freedom Act, which would amend the Clean Water Act to allow prior converted cropland (PCC) to remain exempt from being regulated under WOTUS. - H.…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU · lobbying firm or registrant: PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU
2025 Q4 report (Oct 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025) · posted Jan 20, 2026 · issue area: Clean Air and Water (quality)
$10,000
Spent on own lobbying
…concerns and advocated to amend the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition. Concerns on CAFO permitting requirements. SUPPORTED THE FOLLOWING BILLS: - S.795, the Farmers Freedom Act, which would amend the Clean Water Act to allow prior converted cropland (PCC) to remain exempt from being regulated under WOTUS. - H.…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU · lobbying firm or registrant: PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU
2025 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2025) · posted Oct 20, 2025 · issue area: Clean Air and Water (quality)
$20,000
Spent on own lobbying
…concerns and advocated to amend the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition. Concerns on CAFO permitting requirements. SUPPORTED THE FOLLOWING BILLS: - S.795, the Farmers Freedom Act, which would amend the Clean Water Act to allow prior converted cropland (PCC) to remain exempt from being regulated under WOTUS. - H.…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU · lobbying firm or registrant: PENNSYLVANIA FARM BUREAU
2025 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2025 – Jun 30, 2025) · posted Jul 21, 2025 · issue area: Clean Air and Water (quality)
$20,000
Spent on own lobbying
…ed concerns and advocated to amend the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition. Concerns on CAFO permitting requirements. SUPPORTED THE FOLLOWING BILLS: S.795, the Farmers Freedom Act, which would amend the Clean Water Act to allow prior converted cropland (PCC) to remain exempt from being regulated under WOTUS.
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing