Trans-Pacific Partnership Has its Important Piece in Place; Clean Water Rule to Become Law

President Barack Obama now has the necessary piece of trade legislation to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership. On Monday, the President signed the Trade Promotion Authority bill that was passed by the U.S. House and Senate. TPA removes the ability of Congress to attach amendments to a pending trade deal, allowing only for an up or down vote. It’s a move that is needed to wrap up the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal because other countries negotiators were reluctant to conclude the deal without the U.S. enacting TPA.

The Clean Water rule is slated to become law on August 28th. The rule was published in the Federal Register on Monday. That paves the way for the rule to become law 60 days later. Agriculture groups allege the rule by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers will have a drastic negative impact on agriculture. Several groups in and outside of agriculture are preparing a lawsuit in an attempt to block implementation of the rule in August. Other lawsuits have already been filed and legislation is also being considering in both the House and Senate to either block funding for the rule, or require a re-write of the rule.