The CASL Ledger – August 21, 2020

Professional Development
This week, Center staff attended a webinar hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center. The webinar, The Evolution of Agritourism: Current Legal Issues and Future Trends, was presented by Peggy Kirk Hall, Eric Barrett, and Rob Leeds. 

Online Resources
The Center has teamed up with Penn State Extension to create the Pennsylvania Farm Employers’ Listserv (PFEL) email networking and discussion group. This group will allow farm employers to ask questions and share information relating to agricultural labor issues with others working in the agricultural industry. 

To subscribe, please send an email to: pfel-subscribe-request@lists.psu.edu. In the subject line, type subscribe and type any word in the body (to circumvent spam filtering).

Professional Meetings
This week, Center staff participated in two separate meetings on the topic of solar development.  These meetings involved personnel from Penn State Extension, Dickinson Law, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the City of Allentown. 

Agricultural Law Weekly Review
The Agricultural Law Weekly Review provides updates on the most recent legal developments in agriculture and can be found every week on the Penn State Agricultural Law Blog.  The latest installment of the Agricultural Law Weekly Review was written by Center staff attorney Brook Duer and research assistant Audry Thompson.  Developments covered this week include: 

• Supreme Court Filing Challenges Indiana’s Right to Farm Act, 
• Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Further Expands Eligible Commodities; Application Deadline Extended, 
• USDA Announces Urban Agriculture County Committees and Seeks Nominations, 
• 6th Circuit Dismisses WOTUS Challenge as Moot,
• New York Attorney General Files Suit Against Hillandale, and 
• FMCSA Extends Trucking Hours of Service Waiver Until September 14, 2020.  

The Weekly Review also includes links to articles that have been written by other experts in the agricultural law field from across the nation.

Shale Law Weekly Review
The Shale Law Weekly Review  provides comprehensive updates on the most recent legal developments in shale and can be found every week on the Penn State Shale Law Blog.  This latest installment of the Shale Law Weekly Review was written by research assistant Sara Jenkins and Center staff attorney Jackie Schweichler. Legislative actions and updates were included by research assistant Kaela Gray.  This week’s shale law developments include: 

• Texas Railroad Commission Proposes Amendments to Application for Exception to State Flaring Rule, 
• Department of Interior Issues Proposed Rule to Amend Oil and Gas Royalty Regulations for Federal Leases, 
• EPA Issues Final Amendments to Ease Compliance with Oil and Gas New Source Performance Standards, and
• North Carolina Denies Water Quality Certification for Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Project.    

The Weekly Review also includes links to articles that have been written by other experts in the shale law field from across the nation.

HotLinks
Our daily HotLinks cover the newest developments in agricultural and shale law as they occur.  Find these updates and other helpful links by following us on Twitter! (@AgShaleLaw)  This week, the following HotLinks received the most Twitter impressions from our stakeholders:

• “BLM Defers Controversial Oil And Gas Leases Near Utah National Parks”
• “States Issue Warnings About Unsolicited Seeds Mailed From China”
• “Ad Hoc Payments: A Leading Indicator of Farm Policy Change”
• “Eqt Restores Coronavirus-curtailed Appalachian Natgas Production In July” 
• “Fda/Usda Say They Are Making Progress on Labeling Cell-made Food”

More updates can be found on our Twitter page!

Shale Law Weekly Podcast
At the beginning of each week, the Center posts a new Shale Law Weekly Podcast episode, which can be found online at shalelawpodcast.libsyn.com, as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.  This week, the Shale Law Podcast is hosted by Penn State Law research assistant Sara Jenkins.  In this episode she discusses recent shale law developments from the preceding week. 

Agricultural Law Weekly Podcast
The Center also publishes frequent episodes in the Agricultural Law Podcast.  The Ag Law Weekly Podcast can be found online at aglawpodcast.libsyn.com, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.  This week’s episode features Penn State Law research assistant, Audry Thompson, and staff attorney Brook Duer.  In this episode, they summarize recent agricultural legal developments from the preceding week.

Agricultural Law Education at Penn State Law
On Wednesday, the fall semester began for Penn State Law.  This semester, Ross Pifer is teaching Agricultural Law.  The Rural Economic Development Clinic has begun operations for the fall semester as well.

Stakeholder Inquiries
On a regular basis, CASL staff receive a variety of inquiries from our stakeholders.  Please contact us if you have any questions about agricultural or shale law topics.