Pesticides/Herbicides
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending June 11, 2021
WOTUS: EPA Requests Remand and Announces Intent to Rewrite WOTUS Definition 🌾
On June 9, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a motion in litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts requesting the remand without vacatur of the agency’s April 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) (85 FR 22250), defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act, for the express reason that EPA plans to attempt another re-write of the WOTUS definition. Conservation Law Foundation v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 1:20-cv-10820. According to EPA’s accompanying
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending June 4, 2021
COVID-19: Congressional letter calls for Emergency Temporary Standard and FY 2022 Budget Outlines Intent for Infectious Disease Rulemaking 🌾
On June 2, 2021, one-hundred and six members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to President Biden urging the issuance of an OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) addressing worker protection from COVID-19 in the workplace. The request cited the March 15, 2021 deadline for such a standard included in January 21, 2021’s Executive Order (E.O. 13999) and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) delay in reviewing the draft ETS sent to the White House on April […]
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 21, 2021
Organic Agriculture: USDA AMS Reopens Comment Period on Origin of Livestock Rule Under National Organic Program 🌾
On May 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) posted in the Federal Register a proposed rule titled, “National Organic Program; Origin of Livestock; Reopening of Comment Period” (86 FR 25961). The posting re-opens the comment period for the April 2015 proposed rule requiring that organic milk products be derived from animals under “continuous organic management from the last third of gestation onward.” However, newly certified organic dairy producers may transition livestock into […]
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 May 7, 2021
Chesapeake Bay: EPA Releases Evaluation of Draft Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan 🌾
On May 6, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the agency had completed its evaluation of the draft Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP), which outlines a proposed plan to reduce 6 million pounds of nitrogen and 260,000 pounds of phosphorus added to the Conowingo Dam infill to compensate for the previously miscalculated capacity of the Conowingo Dam and reservoir to trap those nutrients accumulating behind the dam. According to EPA’s evaluation, the draft CWIP targets best management restoration practices “in the most effective […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending April 30, 2021
COVID-19: White House Reviewing OSHA’s Long-Delayed Emergency Temporary Standard
On April 26, 2021, according to a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) spokesperson, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) submitted to the White House an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for the prevention of workplace COVID-19 transmission. President Biden’s January 21, 2021 Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety directed OSHA to decide upon the necessity of an ETS and submit it to the White House by March 15, 2021, however that action was long-delayed without official explanation. An ETS on this topic would represent the first mandatory federal government […]
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 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending March 26, 2021
COVID-19: USDA Announces New ‘Pandemic Assistance for Producers’ Initiative 🌾
On March 24, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its new $6 billion financial assistance initiative, USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers. Combining existing programs with new spending, the initiative aims to resolve disparities in previous assistance distribution through a four-part agenda: 1) $6 billion in Consolidated Appropriations Act and unspent coronavirus funds for new program spending, including assistance for the Dairy Donation Program, biofuels, specialty crops, and farmworker personal protective equipment; 2) $500 million in additional existing program spending, including the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending March 12, 2021
COVID-19: $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan Act Includes $10.4 Billion for Agriculture 🌾
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law H.R. 1319, known as the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” which appropriates approximately $1.9 trillion for various COVID-19 relief funding and authorizes multiple statutory initiatives and programs, including approximately $10.4 billion in aid and assistance to agriculture in various forms. USDA has published a fact sheet on the law and its highlights, including allocation of $4 billion for debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and approximately $1 billion to create a racial equity commission, address longstanding […]
