Agricultural News
House Passes Measure to Derail Double Permitting Requirements on Pesticide Use
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:04:42 CDT
House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma and Ranking Member Collin Peterson of Minnesota issued the following statements after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011 in a bipartisan vote, 292-130.
"I am proud to be a part of the bipartisan effort that led to the House passage of H.R. 872. The last thing the agricultural community needs is another government mandate. This bill eliminates a costly and duplicative permitting requirement that is the result of a court's fundamental ignorance of Congressional intent. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join our efforts so that we can get a bill to the President before more valuable resources are wasted," said Chairman Frank D. Lucas.
"We first began looking into ways to address this issue last fall and I am pleased that, on a bipartisan vote, the House has approved H.R. 872. The courts are not the place to decide agriculture policy and this bill makes clear that it was never the intent of Congress to burden producers with additional permit requirements that would have little to no environmental benefit. I urge the Senate to quickly follow suit and provide certainty to producers by passing this legislation," said Ranking Member Collin Peterson.
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Several ag groups had quick reaction to the passage of H.R. 872.
National Corn Growers Association
The National Corn Growers Association today commended the House of Representatives for their swift action to pass H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011, with a strong bipartisan vote of 292 to 130. This legislation states National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are not required when applying pesticides according to their EPA approved label.
"NCGA greatly appreciates the support of Republicans and Democrats in the House to pass this legislation in less than a month since its introduction," NCGA President Bart Schott, a farmer in Kulm, N.D. said. "We strongly endorse this legislation and are pleased to see Congress understands how significantly farmers could be impacted by burdensome NPDES permits for pesticides."
"Most of today's farmers use pesticides to help produce a safe, abundant and affordable food supply," Schott said. "As it currently stands, the NPDES permitting system jeopardizes the farm economy without providing any real protection to water quality and we are pleased to see this legislation makes the necessary changes. We again thank the House for their vote today and urge the Senate to act quickly on this important issue."
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National Association of Wheat Growers
The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) was extremely pleased to see Thursday's House passage of H.R. 872, a bill to remove duplicative new permitting requirements related to pesticide applications. The bill passed by a 292 to 134 vote.
When signed into law, the legislation will amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act to clarify Congressional intent and eliminate the requirement for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for applications of pesticides approved for use under FIFRA.
This requirement has emanated from a ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court, issued in January 2009, which said pesticide discharge is a point source of pollution subject to additional regulation under the Clean Water Act.
The decision is set to go into effect this year following a two-year stay intended to allow local and federal government agencies to set up processes to implement it, though most remain unprepared. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated ruling will affect approximately 365,000 pesticide applicators that perform 5.6 million pesticide applications annually.
Once implemented, farmers found not to be compliance with the new and vague requirements could be subject to fines of up to $37,500 per day enough to put most out of business quickly.
The bill passed Thursday has achieved widespread bipartisan support from Members of Congress concerned about increasing regulation that will lead to no environmental gain and about the immense cost implementing the new permitting rules would entail for federal and state agencies and pesticide users, including farmers.
"A permanent solution to this extra regulatory burden is needed as soon as possible to give our growers certainty on what rules they must follow this production season," said Wayne Hurst, NAWG president and a wheat producer from the Burley, Idaho, area. "Wheat growers and other agricultural producers are committed to continuing to protect our land, air and water, but we need to know the rules of the road and deserve to have regulation that is understandable and streamlined."
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