EPA
Senate newcomers will lead three Agriculture subcommittees
Three newly elected senators - Joni Ernst of Iowa, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and David Perdue of Georgia - will chair Senate Agriculture subcommittees this session, announced Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts. In a statement, Roberts said the committee had "a hearty dose of new blood" as well as experienced veterans. “We have a lot of work to do, not only with legislation but in our robust oversight responsibilities. This posse is saddled up and ready to ride.”
Senate vote unlikely on amendment against ethanol mandate
A co-sponsor of a Senate amendment to eliminate annual targets for ethanol consumption says the amendment will not be called for a vote as part of debate on the Keystone pipeline.
Virginia nutrient-trading program is praised and panned
A nutrient trading program has saved the state of Virginia more than $1 million while constraining runoff of phosphorus, a fertilizer, into the Chesapeake Bay, said EPA.
EPA to issue Waters of United States rule despite controversy
EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said the agency will complete its Waters of the United States rule and is "still looking at spring" as the likely release date, says DTN.
New pesticide-tolerant crops close to USDA approval
Cotton and soybean varieties genetically engineered by Monsanto to tolerate the herbicide dicamba should be approved for use by farmers, said USDA in issuing its final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the strains.
Shelve neonicotinoids, foodmakers tell administration
Some 118 foodmakers, including Clif Bar, Nature’s Path, Organic Valley and Stonyfield, called on the Obama administration to suspend immediately the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on grounds they are driving down honeybee populations.
Farm Bureau head opposes GMO food labels
The leader of the largest U.S. farm organization said GMO food labeling, debated at the state level for the past three years, would result in "patchwork regulation that will do nothing but raise the cost of food." At the opening session of the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in San Diego, president Bob Stallman said "we need a national, fact-based approach to food labeling." Stallman also said, "We need to maintain farmers' access to better seeds and technology, whether it's through today's technology or innovations yet to come."
School lunch, EPA scale-backs ride on gov’t funding bill
The government-wide funding bill being assembled in private on Capitol Hill would scale back school lunch reforms approved in 2010 and "curtail some clean-water regulations," says the New York Times.
EPA says more safeguards needed on use of chlorpyrifos
An updated risk assessment for chlorpyrifos, a pesticide, shows "additional restrictions may be necessary to ensure that workers who use or work around areas treated with chlorpyrifos are protected and that drinking water sources are protected," says an EPA release.
For food and agriculture, a lengthy to-do list for Congress
Congress is to open its new, two-year session on Tuesday with a hefty list of food and agriculture policy issues already on the agenda for lawmakers. The "to do" list includes reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and federal child nutrition programs such as school lunch and WIC, proposals for federal pre-emption of states in labeling foods made with genetically modified organisms, attempts to block EPA from completing its...
Companies pursue genetic technology free of US review
Seed companies such as Scotts Miracle-Gro and Cellectis Plant Sciences are utilizing techniques to genetically modify crops that are outside of federal jurisdiction or use methods that were not imagined when the regulations were created, said the New York Times.
“Little risk” of corn-for-ethanol to fall below 5 billion bushels
Ethanol makers are likely to need at least 5 billion bushels of corn for making the renewable fuel in the coming year despite the biofuel selling at a premium to gasoline, say economists Scott Irwin and Darrel Good of U-Illinois.
Toledo mayor asks federal action to prevent algae blooms
The government should give priority to protecting water quality in Lake Erie's watershed including a standard on blooms of toxic algae, said Toledo Mayor Michael Collins, four months after explosive growth of algae shut down his city's water supply. "If we continue to delay, the harm may be irreparable," Collins said during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on voluntary work by farmers to control soil erosion and protect water purity.
Petition drive is launched for national food policy
Along with an essay in the Washington Post, backers of a national food policy are running a petition campaign on the Internet that calls on President Barack Obama to issue an executive order spelling out a policy. The Union of Concerned Scientists, host of a petition site, says a national policy "will transform our food system to ensure healthy, sustainably grown food for all."
EPA delays until 2015 the ethanol mandate for this year
With time running out to set the ethanol mandate for this year, EPA said it "is not in a position to finalize the 2014 RFS standards rule before the end of the year. Accordingly, we intend to take action on the 2014 standards rule in 2015 prior to or in conjunction with action on the 2015 standards rule." EPA proposed a relaxation in the 2014 mandate nearly a year ago, saying the gasoline market was nearly saturated with biofuels at the traditional blend rate of 10 percent, partly because fuel usage is lower than expected.
Biofuels are smaller factor than thought in land conversion
For the most part, farmers put their cropland to more intense use rather than convert forests and grasslands because of demand for biofuels in recent years, says a study by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.
Agriculture’s top hope for lame duck – revival of tax breaks
Congress is fairly likely during its post-election session to revive a package of tax incentives that expired on Jan 1, said the leaders of the two largest U.S. farm groups. The package includes the $1 a gallon tax credit for biodiesel, tax credits for wind and solar power, and generous write-offs for purchases of equipment and other assets. Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told reporters the so-called tax extenders package was...
Two words for ethanol lawsuit – distribution capacity
Conventional wisdom says EPA will release the overdue 2014 ethanol mandate after Tuesday's midterm elections and lawsuits will follow, no matter what target is set for ethanol's share of the gasoline market.
EPA restores pesticide exclusion zones
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.