May. 09, 2022
Dear Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission Vanessa A. Countryman, I just wrote to the SEC with concerns about their proposed climate disclosure rule, File Number S7-10-22. The SEC is rushing to jam through a rule that raises huge issues for private farming operations and I have shared these concerns with the SEC. it is not clear that the SEC even has a legal mandate to impose such rules upon private businesses. The required information also appears to violate the constitutional rights of farmers and ranchers. The SEC proposed rule is 510 pages long, with 1,068 technical footnotes and 750 direct questions, but the SEC has only given farmers and others that will be subject to these new burdens 39 days to review and comment. That is not good and transparent government. And it is impossible to understand the scope and detail of what will be required for me. Unlike corporations currently regulated by the SEC, farmers and ranchers, like myself, don’t have a team of compliance officers or attorneys dedicated to handling SEC compliance issues. Sorting thru the legal and technical requirements will be most burdensome for private businesses such as farms and ranches. There are many questions about how our privacy will be protected, what the substantial costs and legal liabilities will be, and whether reporting requirements will disqualify small, family-owned farms from doing business with public companies, or companies that supply public companies, which would have the unfortunate effect of causing more consolidation in agriculture. The entire nature of bulk commodities marketing makes the compliance situation impossible. This is an example of overreach by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is an example of probably well meaning individuals who do not understand the actual impact of the rules they want to impose. Please do whatever you can to stop the SEC from adopting these rules. Regards, donald wauthier