EPA

A new regulation will restore so-called application exclusion zones intended to protect farmworkers and other people from exposure to pesticides as they are being applied, said the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday. The exclusion zones were created as part of a 2015 agricultural worker protection standard and were reduced in size in 2020 during the Trump era.

Makers of the insecticide chlorpyrifos will modify their product labels to reduce runoff and spray drift of the pesticide into the habitat of endangered species and to limit the areas of the country where the chemical is used, said the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. The EPA also said it would propose a regulation limiting the use of chlorpyrifos to 11 crops.

Rod Snyder, the first director of EPA's agriculture and rural affairs office, said on Monday that he was leaving the agency after nearly three years as its agriculture adviser. EPA administrator Michael Regan said farmers, ranchers, and rural communities "will always have a seat at EPA's table" thanks to Snyder's influence.

Illinois will encourage the adoption of no-till farming while Minnesota aims to restore 10,000 acres of degraded peatlands with their share of $931 million awarded to agricultural and natural lands projects by the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday. The money is part of $4.3 billion in Climate Pollution Reduction grants for 25 projects in 30 states.

As a result of the Supreme Court decision on the upstream reach of antipollution laws, half of the water in U.S. rivers comes from so-called ephemeral streams that are now without federal protection, said researchers from the University of Massachusetts and Yale on Thursday.

The EPA overstepped its authority with its so-called tailpipe rule that requires automakers to reduce sharply greenhouse gas emissions from cars and pickup trucks, said the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the National Farmers Union in a lawsuit filed in U.S. appellate court on Monday. It was the second lawsuit in four days to challenge the regulation.

The three federal agencies that share jurisdiction over genetically engineered plants and animals said on Wednesday that they would update and streamline biotechnology regulations in five areas, including modified food animals. The United States is a worldwide leader in agricultural biotechnology.

As part of initiatives related to Earth Day, the Biden administration set "a bold, new national goal to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our nation's rivers and streams" on Tuesday. The initiative could be the overdue response to the Supreme Court decision in 2023 that limited federal protection of wetlands but only seven states are currently taking part, said an attorney active in water law.

Speaking at the largest farm gathering in the country, EPA administrator Michael Regan announced the creation of a new EPA office to expand two-way communication with farmers and rural communities. "With the launch of this new office, we are ensuring agricultural and rural stakeholders will have a seat at the table for many years to come," said Regan at the Commodity Classic in Houston.

Nearly two years after a receiving a petition from eight governors, the Environmental Protection Agency approved on Thursday the year-round sale of higher-blend E15 gasoline in the Midwest, beginning in 2025. Corn growers and ethanol groups said temporary waivers will be needed for E15 again this summer, because otherwise sales will be banned in most of the country under air pollution laws.

Retailers are allowed to sell and farmers are allowed to use existing stocks of the weedkiller dicamba on this year’s soybean and cotton crops no later than July 30, said the EPA on Wednesday. A federal judge in Arizona overturned the EPA’s approval of three dicamba-containing herbicides last week, potentially disrupting the spring planting season.

Following guidance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency has revised its rules on use of the insecticide malathion in an effort to protect 78 threatened and endangered species.

Rather than launch its rulemaking process, the EPA said on Tuesday it would appoint a panel to study, over the next year or so, the best ways to reduce polluted runoff from factory farms. Environmental group Food and Water Watch (FWW) said the "deeply flawed response amounts to yet more delay" in development of stricter water-pollution standards for large livestock and poultry farms.

Researchers conducting the first broadscale test for so-called PFAS in private and public water supplies found the so-called forever chemicals in 45 percent of the nation’s tap water, said the U.S. Geological Survey on Wednesday. The agency said PFAS were far more likely to be detected in tap water in urban areas than in rural America.

Although the Biden administration says it will update its “waters of the United States” regulation by Sept. 1, it might have to act a bit faster than that under a motion filed in federal court in Texas. The motion asks the court to discard the Biden regulation entirely “and request that the agencies promulgate a new rule within 45 days.”

The EPA failed to take environmental and public health risks into account when it reapproved two brand-name weedkillers produced by Corteva that contain the herbicide 2,4-D, according to a federal lawsuit that challenges the 2022 decision. The plaintiffs asked the U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., to vacate the registrations of Enlist One and Enlist Duo and to halt sales of the products while the EPA reconsiders their risks.