Agricultural News
Supreme Court Refuses to Take Up Case on Pesticide Permitting Requirements
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:10:04 CSTThe U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to review a lower court ruling imposing Clean Water Act permitting requirements on the application of pesticides on, over or near water.
The High Court announced its decision Monday.
Bob Stallman, president of the 6-million member American Farm Bureau Federation, which along with CropLife America asked the Supreme Court to review a January 2009 ruling by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the National Cotton Council versus EPA case, calls the Court’s refusal to overturn the ruling bad news for crop producers. Stallman said in a statement "All farmers know they must use chemicals properly. They also know the label on each chemical they use is the law of the land. Going through redundant bureaucratic red tape for a duplicate permit to apply a safe product is preposterous. That kind of regulatory overkill will not improve food safety or the environment."
Among those expressing dismay over the decision was Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe. His office quickly offered a comment on the Supreme Court's denial of agriculture's petition to review the case of The National Cotton Council of America, et al. v. the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The petition to review was in response to the 6th Circuit's ruling reversing EPA's longstanding authority to exempt applications of pesticides from the Clean Water Act. In December 2009, Senator Inhofe, along with several members from the House and Senate, filed an amicus brief supporting the petition for review.
"The Supreme Court's denial is unfair to agriculture and consumers," Inhofe said. "The court's denial means agriculture will face yet another layer of bureaucracy and regulation, which will stifle job creation in rural America. Also, EPA will now have to process 5.6 million new pesticide applications per year, which will hinder farm operations and add significant costs to both producers and consumers of agriculture. I hope the Obama Administration will work with Congress as soon as possible on bipartisan legislation to address this issue."
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Another group that was very unhappy with the lack of action on the part of the Supreme Court was Crop Life America. Below is their full news release on this win for the EPA and blow to production agriculture.
CropLife America (CLA) expressed its disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review a recent ruling from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. CLA had filed a cert petition asking the Supreme Court to review and reconsider the three-judge panel’s decision which struck down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation that NPDES permits are not required when applying pesticides to or near water sources. Historically, agricultural pest management activities have been treated as non-point sources under the Clean Water Act and have not required NPDES permits.
“The panel’s ruling creates another legal burden for our farmers, custom applicators and agricultural dealers, and leads to additional regulations which may well further prevent food growers from maximizing their output,” said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA. “We are disappointed that the 6th Circuit’s decision could cause the U.S. government to continue to practice a precautionary policy which is detrimental not only for farmers, but could prevent the country from producing more food, fuel and fiber for a growing world population.”
The final decision by the 6th Circuit is stayed until April 2011. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, CLA will continue to pursue additional avenues to contain the 6th Circuit’s ruling. The organization will also continue to work with key stakeholders to ensure that the critical needs of agriculture are best preserved.
“While we recognize that only a very small percentage of cert petitions are accepted for review,” said Douglas Nelson, executive vice president and general counsel of CLA, “we are also aware of decisions of other federal courts in NPDES cases which affirm the regulatory framework of EPA and Congress to treat pesticides as non-point source applications. Regardless, CLA will continue to work with EPA to minimize the burden placed on farmers and reduce the disruption this will cause across the crop protection industry.”
CLA filed the cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on November 2, 2009, with support from a host of agricultural allies including: Agribusiness Association of Iowa, BASF Corporation, FMC Corporation, Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, Southern Crop Production Association and Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. A separate cert petition challenging the 6th Circuit’s decision was also filed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forest & Paper Association and The National Cotton Council.
Several amici briefs supporting CLA’s cert petition were also filed by various state departments of agriculture and national trade associations. Additionally, over 30 members of Congress, including both Democrats and Republicans, also filed a brief requesting the Supreme Court accept the case.
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