EPA
Divergent ag views of EPA plan on power plant emissions
The two largest U.S. farm groups hold widely divergent views on the EPA proposal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 30 percent in coming years.
A lower ethanol mandate is better, says EWG
In a report titled "Ethanol's Broken Promise," the Environmental Working Group says the scaled-back ethanol mandate proposed by EPA "would lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2e) – as much as taking 580,000 cars off the road for a year." EWG says its figures take into account the effect of bringing more land into crop production.
EPA likely to suggest a larger ethanol mandate
Rising gasoline consumption could allow the EPA to set the ethanol mandate higher than it originally proposed, says Reuters. It says an industry source says there is enough leeway for EPA to set the mandate at 13.6 billion gallons for this year, compared to its November proposal of 13 billion gallons for corn-based ethanol.
Green group says apple pesticide needs more safety work
The Environmental Working Group asked the government to "launch a new investigation to determine whether the use of diphenylamine, or DPA, is safe for U.S. consumer," said Food Safety News.
Study casts doubt on corn stover as biofuel feedstock
Using corn residues - stalks, husks and cobs - to make biofuels appears to create more carbon dioxide over their life cycle than the target set by federal standards, says research at the University of Nebraska.
Farm leaders hopeful EPA will relent on biofuels
Sen Debbie Stabenow and Rep Collin Peterson told NAAJ they were optimistic the administration will set a higher mandate for biofuels consumption this year than it initially proposed.
EPA aims for biofuels rule by late spring or early summer
The government could issue an updated target for biofuel use by late spring or early summer, said EPA administrator Gina McCarthy at the North American Agricultural journalists meeting.
Senate panel to vote on CFTC chairman, review biofuels
The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to vote on April 8 on three nominees for commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including Timothy Massad for chairman.
Cellulosic ethanol in the RFS squeeze
The EPA proposal to relax the ethanol mandate could pinch the market for biofuels made from crop debris, grass and wood, says a front-page story in the Des Moines Register.
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.