EPA
EPA to ban agricultural use of chlorpyrifos
Ending 14 years of regulatory and court battles, the EPA announced on Wednesday that it would ban agricultural use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to learning disorders and can cause nausea, dizziness, and confusion. Regulators ended residential use of the pesticide, which works by attacking the nervous systems of insects, two decades ago.
Biofuel, farm groups ask for a second look at ban on summertime E15
The market for corn ethanol will be stunted unreasonably if sales of gasoline containing a higher blend of the homegrown fuel are banned during the summer, said corn growers and two biofuel groups on Tuesday. They asked all 16 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review a July 2 decision against year-round sales of E15, gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol.
Lawmakers look to overrule appellate decision on year-round E15
In a step coinciding with an ethanol conference in Iowa, midwestern lawmakers filed bills in the House and Senate to allow year-round sales of gasoline that is a 15 percent, or higher, blend of corn ethanol. The bills would override a U.S. appeals court ruling on July 2 against summertime sales of E15.
Court losses are only temporary setbacks, says ethanol industry
Groups urge EPA to spell out RFS waiver rules
Farm and ethanol groups said they were confident the EPA will approve few exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard, but they urged the agency on Monday to state how it will run the program in the wake of last week's Supreme Court ruling on waivers.
Biden administration will replace Trump clean water rule
Shortly after telling senators that he wanted a "long-term, durable solution," EPA administrator Michael Regan said on Wednesday that the Biden administration would write a new definition of the upstream reach of clean water laws. The process would include repeal of the 2020 Trump-era rule that replaced 2015 Obama water regulations the farm sector decried as federal overreach.
Methane from livestock may be greatly underestimated, say researchers
Livestock farms and feedlots in North America may be emitting far more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than currently assumed, according to a review published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
EPA managers intruded on dicamba decision making
Appeals court vacates three last-minute RFS waivers
The federal appeals court that greatly restricted access to "hardship" exemptions from the U.S. ethanol mandate in 2020 granted an EPA request on Wednesday to cancel three exemptions issued on President Trump's final day in office.
EPA wants to retract three last-minute RFS waivers
EPA is given 60 days to ban or modify rules for chlorpyrifos
After blasting the EPA for "13 years of interminable delay," the federal appeals court in San Francisco on Thursday set a 60-day deadline for the agency to either ban agricultural use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos or set newer and safer exposure levels for the chemical. The dissenter in the 2-1 decision said the short time frame "virtually guarantees" a ban.
EPA agrees RFS exemptions should be tightly limited
RFS ‘is definitely a priority for this administration,’ says EPA nominee
The Biden administration plans a thorough review of recent EPA decisions involving the federal mandate to mix corn ethanol and other biofuels into gasoline, said Michael Regan, the White House nominee to run the agency, at his Wednesday confirmation hearing. "The RFS is definitely a priority for this administration."
First 100 days: It’s Biden’s EPA now. What does that mean for the agrochemical industry?
Hours after his inauguration, President Biden issued an executive order to review 48 actions by the Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency, including several controversial decisions on agricultural chemicals. Environmental and food safety groups saw the action as a welcome sign that the Biden EPA will begin to temper what they see as the agency's industry-friendly stance and prioritize the environment, public health, and science. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
U.S. permit may jumpstart ocean aquaculture, despite concerns
Aquaculture companies seeking to cultivate finfish in the open ocean could soon have an easier path to approval under a nationwide permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers last week, despite concerns from environmental groups. The permit, which could create an industry for aquaculture in federal waters, was written in response to a May executive order by President Trump calling on agencies to deregulate and expand seafood production in the United States.
EPA plan would give small refiners more time to comply with RFS
Small oil refineries would have an additional six months to show they had complied with their obligations to mix corn ethanol into gasoline during 2019 under an EPA proposal published on Thursday.