Agricultural Law Weekly Review
The Agricultural Law Weekly Review provides an update of recent agricultural law developments from local, state, national, and international levels. Subscribe for updates.
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending December 3, 2021
Pesticides/Herbicides: EPA Publishes Pesticide Registration Review Schedule Through 2025 🌾
On December 2, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the agency’s pesticide registration review schedule through fiscal year 2025, which the agency states it will now update quarterly rather than annually, the agency’s historical precedent. Although the 2007 amendments to the Federal Insecticide Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) require EPA to review all registered pesticides every fifteen years, EPA anticipates that it will extend its review beyond October 1, 2022 for some pesticides registered before October 1, 2007 due to pandemic challenges. According to the announcement, of […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending November 26, 2021
Ag-Gag Statutes: Kansas Files for Supreme Court Review of its ‘Ag-Gag’ Law 🌾
On November 17, 2021, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s August 2021 decision that: (1) portions of the “Kansas Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act (Act)” (Kan. Stat. Ann. § § 47-1825–47-1828) violate First Amendment free speech protections; and (2) Kansas is prohibited from enforcing § 47-187 (b), (c), and (d) of the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending November 19, 2021
COVID-19: Federal Courts Affirm Stay and Consolidate Cases Challenging OSHA’s Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard 🌾
On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion reaffirming the court’s November 6, 2021 temporary stay of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) November 5, 2021 COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (86 FR 61402). BST Holdings v. OSHA, No. 21-60845. OSHA’s “Emergency Temporary Standard” webpage now states that, although the agency “remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending November 12, 2021
Food Policy: Glasgow Climate Change Summit Includes Food Systems Initiatives 🌾
On November 13, 2021, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland concluded. Among the notable agricultural-related developments was the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration, a declaration seeking all levels of government entities to become signatories and work in various ways towards, among other things, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from food systems, in acknowledgment of a United Nations’ finding that food systems account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and “the creation of resilient livelihoods for farm and food workers.” […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week ending November 5, 2021
COVID 19: OSHA Vaccination Mandate Issued and Immediately Stayed by Federal Court 🌾
On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published in the Federal Register, “COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard (86 FR 61402), an interim final rule that consists of an emergency temporary standard (ETS) immediately effective requiring employers of 100 or more employees by December 5, 2021, to “develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, with an exception for employers that instead adopt a policy requiring employees to either get vaccinated or elect to undergo […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 29, 2021
Agribusiness: Federal Court Allows Securities Fraud Claims to Proceed Against Bayer Re: Monsanto Purchase 🌾
On October 19, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order denying Bayer’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by Bayer investors alleging that the company’s actions in connection with its acquisition of Monsanto violated the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund v. Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, No. 3:20-cv-04737. The plaintiffs, multiple pension funds, claim that Bayer misstated the safety of glyphosate and Roundup, Bayer’s own due diligence efforts, and the legal risks […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 22, 2021
Animal Welfare: Federal Court Refuses to Dismiss Suit to Compel USDA Regulations on Poultry Processing Plant Animal Handling 🌾
On October 13, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York issued a decision refusing to dismiss two animal welfare organizations’ lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for refusing to issue regulations governing live animal handling practices at poultry processing plants. Animal Welfare Institute et al. v. Perdue et al., No. 6:20-cv-06595. While the decision rests upon technical legal issues of standing and subject matter jurisdiction, the lawsuit, if successful, would compel USDA […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 15, 2021
WOTUS: EPA and Department of the Army Announce Call for Stakeholder Roundtable Nominations 🌾
On October 13, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of the Army (Army) announced that they are seeking nominations for ten regional roundtables, two in each of five defined U.S. geographic regions (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West, and Southwest), to inform the agencies on the unique geographical contexts and impacts of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) as EPA and Army develop a new WOTUS rule. The agencies invite stakeholders to identify and submit nominations proposing a participant roster of no more […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 8, 2021
Biofuels: Biofuel Advocacy Group Files Supreme Court Petition for Review of E15 Vacatur 🌾
On October 7, 2021, biofuel advocacy group Growth Energy filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s July 2021 vacatur of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule allowing year-round sales of fifteen percent ethanol fuel blend (E15). Growth Energy v. American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, et al., No. 21-519. Growth Energy previously filed for a rehearing of the case, which was denied by […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 1, 2021
Animal Welfare: U.S. Supreme Court Petitioned to Accept Appeal Challenging Constitutionality of California’s Proposition 12 🌾
On September 27, 2021, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to have California’s Proposition 12 declared unconstitutional as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. Proposition 12 in pertinent part prohibits the in-state sale of pork products from animals raised in a manner not compliant with California’s in-state swine confinement standards. National Pork Producers Council, et al. v. Karen Ross, No. 21-468. The […]
