Biotechnology
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending March 18, 2022
Food Labeling: Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of ‘Product of USA’ Meat Labeling Lawsuit 🌾
On March 11, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion and order affirming the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico’s dismissal of a suit alleging that the “Product of the U.S.A” labels used by the defendant meat packers—Tyson Foods, Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions, Corp., JBS USA Food Company, and National Beef Packing Company, LLC—are deceptive and misleading because the labeled beef products are not derived from cattle born and raised in the United States but instead […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending March 11, 2022
Avian Influenza: Detections Now in Sixteen States 🌾
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detected in domestic poultry in the following states: Indiana—Feb. 8, 16, 23 (two separate premises) and 24 and Mar. 2 in commercial turkeys; Kentucky—Feb. 12 in commercial broiler chickens (broilers) and Feb. 15 in commercial turkeys; Virginia—Feb. 12 in mixed backyard poultry; New York—Feb. 19 and 24 (two separate premises) in various non-commercial poultry; Maine—Feb. 19 and 23 in backyard poultry; Delaware—Feb. 22 in broilers and laying hens (layers) and Mar. […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending September 24, 2021
WOTUS: Supreme Court Petition Seeks Review of Rapanos Case Analysis 🌾
On September 24, 2021, Priest Lake, Idaho landowners Michael and Chantell Sackett filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to revisit the court’s 2006 Rapanos decision attempting to define jurisdictional “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Michael Sackett, et ux. v. EPA, No. 21-454. In Rapanos v. United States, the plurality opinion, in which four justices joined, determined that the CWA regulates surface waters only when they have a “continuous surface water connection” to […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending September 3, 2021
WOTUS: Arizona Federal Court Vacates 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule
On August 30, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued an order vacating and remanding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) (85 FR 22250) which defined “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) for the purposes of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Pasqua Yaqui Tribe v. EPA, No. 4:20-cv-00266. However, pursuant to the court’s order, the so-called 2019 “Repeal Rule,” which repealed the 2015 “Clean Water Rule” (80 FR 37053) and re-instated the pre-2015 regulations (84 FR […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending August 27, 2021
Ag-Gag Statutes: Tenth Circuit Affirms Unconstitutionality of Kansas’s Ag-Gag Law 🌾
On August 19, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion affirming the district court’s injunction barring enforcement of key provisions of the Kansas Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act (Act). Animal Legal Defense Fund, et al v. Kelly, et al, No. 20-3082; Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Kelly, No. 2:18-cv-02657 (D. Kan.). Sections (b), (c), and (d) of the Act criminalize “exercising control over,” recording on, and trespassing onto an animal facility “without effective consent of the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending August 13, 2021
Pesticides/Herbicides: California State Appellate Court Affirms Verdict in Pilliod v. Monsanto 🌾
On August 9, 2021, the Court of Appeal for the State of California issued an opinion affirming the jury verdict in a glyphosate products liability claim against Monsanto/Bayer. Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Company, No. A158228. In 2019, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, who alleged that their thirty-year use of Monsanto/Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused them both to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in the amount of $2 billion but the trial court reduced it to $87 million on […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending July 2, 2021
Animal Welfare: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Refusal to Grant Injunction Against California’s Proposition 12 🌾
On June 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States denied North American Meat Institute’s (NAMI) petition for certiorari from the refusal to grant an injunction against California’s Proposition 12 on the basis that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. North American Meat Institute v. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California, et al., No. 20-1215. Proposition 12 establishes in-state animal confinement standards for egg-laying hens, veal calves, and breeding sows and prohibits the in-state sale of noncompliant products (included […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending May 28, 2021
Pesticides/Herbicides: Federal Court Rejects Bayer’s Proposed Partial Glyphosate Settlement, Bayer to Review Roundup Residential Use 🌾
On May 26, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order denying approval of Bayer’s $2 billion proposed class settlement to resolve a portion of current and future claims in the multi-district class action litigation, In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, No. 3:16-md-02741. The proposed settlement covered claims from two groups of Roundup users: those who have already been diagnosed with Non-Hodgins lymphoma (NHL) but have not filed a claim and those who have not been diagnosed […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending May 14, 2021
Pesticides/Herbicides: Ninth Circuit Denies Bayer’s Appeal of Federal Jury’s Glyphosate Verdict 🌾
On May 14, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision denying all grounds for appeal by Bayer (successor to Monsanto’s Roundup product liabilities) from a March 2019 $25.3 million adverse jury verdict in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California finding that Plaintiff Edwin Hardeman’s exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-containing Roundup products caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hardeman v. Monsanto, No. 19-16636, Ninth Circuit. While Bayer alleged multiple grounds for appeal, its primary legal arguments are that state products liability law […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending April 23, 2021
WOTUS: EPA Administrator Testifies on WOTUS 🌾
On April 21, 2021, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan testified about EPA’s approach to the presently applicable Navigable Waters Protection Rule before the House Committee On Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. He stated, “What I’m pledging to do is begin a stakeholder-engagement process involving our ag community — farm bureau, ag CEOs, our environmental community — to look at the lessons learned and how we can move forward . . . that we can provide some certainty to the ag industry where we don’t overburden the small farmer […]
