Biofuels
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – January 30, 2020
WOTUS: EPA Releases New Navigable Waters Protection Rule to Replace 2015 WOTUS Rule
On January 23, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (collectively “EPA”) announced the issuance of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. This long-awaited rule will provide a new regulatory definition of “waters of the United States” for the purpose of establishing the limits of EPA’s regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). It will be published in the Federal Register as a final rule, without any additional comment period, and its effective date will be sixty days after publication. To date, the Federal […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —January 9, 2020
Dairy Policy: Borden Dairy Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
On January 5, 2020, Borden Dairy Company, headquartered in Dallas, TX, and seventeen affiliated companies (collectively “Borden”) filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The bankruptcy proceedings are being jointly administered under Case No. 20-10010. Borden’s bankruptcy claims agent has established a website for public access to the court dockets, filings, notices and other legally required disclosures at www.donlinrecano.com/borden. A thirty-one page declaration of Borden CFO Jason Monaco filed in support of the bankruptcy petitions contains a lengthy narrative account of the firm’s history […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —November 28, 2019
Agricultural Labor: House Judiciary Committee Acts on Farm Workforce Modernization Bill
On November 20, 2019, the United States House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee passed out of committee H.R. 5038, titled “Farm Workforce Modernization Act,” by a vote of 18-12. The passage out of the Judiciary committee is a first step for the bill which was introduced on November 12, 2019, with 25 Democratic and 23 Republican co-sponsors. It remains under consideration in three other House committees. The bill is the first farm workforce bill to be advanced out of any committee in 2019 and may become a focus of farm workforce […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – October 24, 2019
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – October 10, 2019
On September 30, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a one-year extension for farmers to replace livestock sold in response to severe drought conditions. According to Notice 2006-82, qualifying sales are limited to livestock owned for draft, dairy, or breeding purposes. The livestock must have been sold entirely on account of drought, and the farmer or rancher must have qualified for the four-year replacement period. Farmers in applicable regions may now delay replacing livestock until the end of the tax year following the “first drought-free year” and may also defer capital […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – September 13, 2019
Water Quality: EPA Seeks Comment on Water Quality Trading Policy
On September 5, 2019, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that the agency is seeking comment on guidance issued in the memorandum, Updating the EPA’s Water Quality Trading Policy to Promote Market-Based Mechanisms for Improving Water Quality. Specifically, EPA requests comment on one of the principles outlined in the memo which states that EPA “encourages simplicity and flexibility in implementing baseline concepts.” The memo asks stakeholders to consider the best way to apply the load allocation baseline in order to improve water quality. Under the Clean Water Act, […]
