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fiber." At the same time, the MOA does include hayland and pastureland with "planted 

 grasses or legumes" such as ryegrass or bluegrass. These are not "food or fiber" either but 

 does their inclusion mean that turfgrass sod is included as well? 



Ultimately, because of this ambiguity, we are left with Regulatory Guidance Letter 

 90-7, which created our problem in the first place. 



Yet, turfgrass sod and other perennial crops are considered an "agricultural 

 commodity" under numerous federal laws, including other environmental laws. Moreover, 

 they are considered an agricultural activity under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 

 Manual, which is considered the authoritative classification scheme for American industry. 

 Their exclusion from the wetlands agricultural exemption makes no logical or scientific 

 sense, as the policy reasons for exempting program crops like wheat and com must also 

 apply to turfgrass sod, fruit trees and other non-program crop agricultural commodities. 



As Congress prepares to reauthorize the Clean Water Act, ASPA urges that this 

 Subcommittee, with its knowledge and concern about agriculture, take steps to ensure that 

 any legislation dealing with wetlands focuses on the agricultural provisions and clarify the 

 term "agricultural commodity" so that it is complete and equitable for purposes of 

 determining eligibility for agricultural exemptions. We urge the Subcommittee to amend the 

 law to treat all crops the same for purposes of the agricultural exemptions, regardless of 

 when they are harvested. Failure to correct this inequity will perpetuate an arbitrary 



