Water Quality
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 24, 2023
Water Quality: States and EPA Jointly Move to Dismiss Chesapeake Bay Water Pollution Suit 🌾
On July 12, 2023, all parties involved in Chesapeake Bay Foundation v. Environmental Protection Agency filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a joint stipulation notifying the court of the parties’ voluntary dismissal, without prejudice, of all claims. Chesapeake Bay Foundation v. EPA, No. 1:20-cv-02529. The case was initially filed in September 2020 by Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and several environmental groups against EPA seeking to compel the agency to enforce Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay nutrient and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 19, 2023
Pesticides/Herbicides: Environmental Groups Challenge EPA’s Registration of Enlist One and Enlist Duo 🌾
On June 6, 2023, the Center for Food Safety and two other advocacy groups filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking injunctive and declaratory relief against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) registration decision for Enlist One and Enlist Duo. Ctr. for Food Safety v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, No. 1:23-cv-01633. In January 2022, EPA granted an extended seven-year registration for the two herbicides in 34 states, which may be expanded to six other states pending a […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 12, 2023
International Trade: U.S. Initiates USMCA Dispute Settlement Consultations with Mexico on GMO Corn Ban 🌾
On June 2, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States has requested dispute settlement consultations with Mexico under Articles 31.2 and 31.4 of the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) concerning Mexico’s prohibition on the import of genetically modified corn for human consumption. The USTR announcement follows a June 1, 2023, letter from 62 Congress members urging the USTR to “immediately proceed with a formal USMCA dispute.” USTR’s request for dispute settlement consultations follows unsuccessful technical consultations […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 5, 2023
Farmland Preservation: Appraiser Pleads Guilty to Agricultural Conservation Easement Fraud 🌾
On May 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a North Carolina land appraiser, Walter “Terry” Douglas Roberts II, pleaded guilty to fraudulently inflating the value of at least eighteen agricultural conservation easements “by at least 70%,” allowing landowners to claim fraudulent tax deductions. United States v. Lewis, No. 1:21-cr-00231 (N.D. Ga.). The DOJ stated that the inflated appraisals led to more than $460 million in fraudulent tax deductions that resulted in $129 million in lost tax revenue.
Dairy Policy: FMMO Petitions on Make Allowances Clarified
On […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 29, 2023
Water Quality: U.S. Supreme Court Provides Definitive Clarity to Definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) 🌾
On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Sackett v. EPA, et al., No. 21-454, reversing and remanding the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and stating, “[W]e hold that the [Clean Water Act] extends to only those “wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States’ in their own right,” so that they are “indistinguishable” from those waters,” citing its own earlier plurality decision in […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 17, 2023
Water Quality: North Dakota Federal Court Enjoins WOTUS Final Rule in 24 States 🌾
On April 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction immediately effective in 24 states against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) January 2023 WOTUS Final Rule in West Virginia v. U.S. EPA, No. 3:23-cv-00032. In addition to a previously-issued federal court injunction issued in Texas, effective in Texas and Idaho, the new injunction is effective in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 3, 2023
Water Quality: U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Hear Appeal Interpreting Citizen Suit Authority Under Clean Water Act 🌾
On January 30, 2023, Dakota Finance LLC (dba Arabella Farms) filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case which may provide clarity to the applicability of the Clean Water Act (CWA)’s authority to pursue citizen suits when a state agency has already commenced enforcement action under a state law “comparable to” the Clean Water Act’s administrative penalty provisions. Dakota Finance LLC, dba Arabella Farm, et al. v. Naturaland Trust, et al. No. 22-720. […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 13, 2023
Biotechnology: U.S. Trade Representative Announces USMCA Technical Consultations On Mexican GMO Corn Ban 🌾
On March 6, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it is requesting technical consultations with Mexico “regard[ing] certain Mexican measures concerning products of agricultural biotechnology,” i.e., Mexico’s February 13, 2023, decree prohibiting import of genetically modified corn for human consumption. USTR initiates the technical consultations under Article 9.19 of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Chapter of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). According to a statement issued by USDA Secretary Vilsack, the United States “remain[s] firm in […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 20, 2023
Food Labeling: Multidistrict Litigation Panel Consolidates Beyond Meat False Advertising Cases 🌾
On February 1, 2023, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a transfer order consolidating in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois five cases alleging false advertising claims against Beyond Meat, Inc., which manufactures plant-based meat substitute products. In RE: Beyond Meat, Inc., Protein Content Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, No. 1:23-cv-00669. According to the transfer order, the plaintiffs claim that Beyond Meat “(1) miscalculates and overstates its products’ protein content; (2) miscalculates and overstates the quality of the products’ protein, which […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 6, 2023
International Trade: U.S. Requests Second USMCA Arbitration Over Canada’s Dairy Tariff-Rate Quotas 🌾
On January 31, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the U.S. has requested—for the second time—that an arbitration panel adjudicate the U.S.’s claim that Canada’s administration of its dairy tariff-rate quotas (TRQ) violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). A January 2022 arbitration panel decision found Canada’s TRQ eligibility criteria were a USMCA violation. According to the U.S., Canada’s resulting minimal change to TRQ eligibility does not remedy the underlying violation. The new arbitration request reasserts TRQ eligibility and adds TRQ allocation […]
