Legislation introduced on pesticides and clean water

Today, Ranking Member Frank Lucas, along with six of his colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee, introduced a bill (H.R. 6087), which clarifies that the use of a pesticide consistent with its registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) should not be subject to a costly, redundant, and unnecessary permit process under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency has interpreted the act to exclude lawful pesticide applications regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. However, in January 2009, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that longstanding practice in The National Cotton Council of America, et al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency. The court ruled the EPA did not have the authority under the CWA to exempt application of pesticides. Last year, Rep. Lucas joined several of his colleagues and supported a petition to the Supreme Court to hear the case, but the petition was rejected. Ranking Member Lucas' bill would make clear that producers who are in compliance with the requirements of FIFRA do not need to obtain Clean Water Act permits. "Instead of challenging the courts' misguided decision, the Obama administration has chosen to leave our farmers, ranchers, foresters, mosquito-control districts, and even States to face an enormous regulatory burden never intended by Congress...press release

Go here to view the court case.