Environmental Credit Trading
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 9, 2024
Environmental Credit Trading: Pennsylvania Passes ‘Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act’ 🌾
On July 17, 2024, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law S.B. 831 (Act 87), titled the “Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act.” The law vests “ownership of all pore space in all strata below the surface lands and waters of th[e] Commonwealth . . . in the surface property interest owner above the pore space” and provides that “a conveyance of the surface ownership of real property shall be a conveyance of the pore space.” Additionally, the law directs the Environmental Quality Board to promulgate regulations for carbon […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 4, 2024
NEW Publication: HPAI in Dairy Cattle: Is Pasteurization Dairy’s Only Reliable Protection?, Southern Ag Today—Brook Duer, Center Staff Attorney
Related Webinar: July 17, 2024, “HPAI in Poultry and Cattle: How Can We Miss You if You Won’t Go Away?,” Staff Attorney Brook Duer Presents with the National Agricultural Law Center.
Water Quality: Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Clean Water Act ‘Generic Prohibitions’ 🌾
On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari to hear an appeal of a July 2023 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 11, 2024
Agricultural Labor: Fifth Circuit Remands ‘Independent Contractor’ Rule Challenge to District Court, DOL January 2024 Rule Effective March 11, 2024 🌾
On February 19, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order vacating the district court’s decision and remanding a case challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) March 2021 delay (86 FR 12535) and May 2021 withdrawal (86 FR 24303) of the agency’s independent contractor rule, issued on January 7, 2021 (86 FR 1168) shortly before the change of administration. Coalition v. Su, No. 22-40316. The January 2021 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—October 30, 2023
National Agricultural Policy: USDA Allocates $2.3 Billion in CCC Funds for Trade Promotion, Surplus Commodity Purchases 🌾
On October 24, 2023, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA will allocate $2.3 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for agricultural trade promotion and international food aid. According to the announcement, $1.3 billion will fund a new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program and $1 billion will fund purchases of surplus U.S. commodities for distribution through USAID. See also ALWR—Oct. 2, 2023, “GAO Decision Finds USDA’s Use of Commodity Credit Corporation Funds Lawful.”
Technology: USDA Rural Development Allows Loan, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—October 2, 2023
National Agricultural Policy: GAO Decision Finds USDA’s Use of Commodity Credit Corporation Funds Lawful 🌾
On September 20, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a decision concluding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “did not violate the [Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)] Charter Act or the Antideficiency Act when it used CCC funds for programs that were not specifically included in its [FY 2021] budget submission to Congress” because the “Government Corporation Control Act (GCCA) does not require corporations to delineate specific programs in their budget submissions prior to carrying them out.” Additionally, the GAO decision found that […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—September 4, 2023
WOTUS: EPA and Army Issue ‘Waters of the United States’ Pre-Publication Final Rule 🌾
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with the U.S. Department of the Army, announced that the agencies had released a pre-publication final rule and regulatory text changes to amend the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in accordance with Sackett v. EPA. According to an accompanying fact sheet released by the agencies, the final rule omits “interstate wetlands” from the “interstate waters” jurisdictional language and “wetlands and streams” from the “additional waters” jurisdictional language; removes the […]
