U.S. Farmers Could Be Mired in Permits for Applying Pesticides

By Jim.Robinson|November 10, 2011

A U.S. Appeals Court failed to reverse a decision that could require U.S. farmers to apply for pesticide application permits, which could significantly affect the type and frequency of pesticide applications.
A ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will require states to implement and enforce duplicative regulation on pesticide users with no environmental benefit, according to CropLife America (CLA).

The stay of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ January 2009 ruling in National Cotton Council, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency has expired without enactment of H.R. 872. The legislation, which enjoys broad bipartisan and bicameral support, would clarify that Clean Water Act (CWA) permits are not required for certain pesticide applications. Instead, the Court’s ruling vacated the EPA’s 2006 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Final Rule for pesticides, CLA said.

“We had hoped that the United States Senate would take action and pass H.R. 872 or a reasonable moratorium alternative to avoid implementation of the Sixth Circuit’s misguided NPDES ruling before the deadline passed,” said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA, in a statement. “Though the Senate, despite Herculean efforts by several Senators to find a way beyond the impasse, failed to act before time expired, we still hold out hope for Senate leadership to effectively address this issue. Despite assurances from EPA that enforcement on the regulation will be deferred until 2012, it does not prevent citizen action lawsuit liability for our customers and for all of America’s farmers and pest control managers tasked with protecting our food supply and our citizens from insect borne diseases and other harmful pathogens.”

The NPDES permitting program has long been used by EPA under the CWA to regulate industrial and municipal point-source discharges of water contaminants. However, Congress never intended nonpoint sources of contaminants to be similarly regulated, and exempted agricultural storm water runoff and irrigation return flows from the CWA’s permitting program, according to CLA.