June 29, 2011
www.gfb.org
Vol. 29 No. 26
SENATE AG COMMITTEE PASSES BILL CLARIFYING NPDES REQUIREMENTS The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry approved H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011 on June 21. The bill clarifies that National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are not required when applying pesticides approved under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). After clearing the Senate Ag Committee it was placed on the Senate legislative calendar. House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) issued a statement urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring the bill to a vote on the floor of the Senate. Companion legislation, S. 718, was introduced in the Senate by Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee and cosponsored by 12 senators, including Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). A 2007 EPA rule allowed pesticides approved under FIFRA to be exempted from Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting requirements, but under a 2009 ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of National Cotton Council vs. EPA, pesticide applicators would have to apply for an NPDES permit if the chemical reaches a body of water, which could include ditches and culverts. Without passage of H.R. 872, an estimated 35,000 pesticide applicators will need permits to cover about 500,000 applications per year, and under the CWA, unlawful discharges are subject to fines. Farm Bureau has maintained that the NPDES permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act duplicate the permitting requirements under FIFRA and, in addition to exposing farmers to potential lawsuits, imposed unnecessary and costly administrative requirements. Further, while NPDES permits will not provide any additional environmental benefits, the complex new requirements would expose farmers to potential citizen action suits for something as simple as paperwork violations. H.R. 872 would reinstate the exemptions to the regulatory framework in use under the 2007 rule. Sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), H.R. 872 passed the House on March 31 by a 292130 vote and received bipartisan support. It was supported by Farm Bureau and voted for by Georgia Reps. John Barrow (D-12th Dist.), Sanford Bishop (D-2nd Dist.), Paul Broun (R-10th Dist.), Phil Gingrey (R-11th Dist.), Tom Graves (R-9th Dist.), Jack Kingston (R-1st Dist.), Tom Price (R-6th Dist.), Austin Scott (R-8th Dist.), David Scott (D-13th Dist.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-3rd Dist.) and Rob Woodall (R-7th Dist.).