ADMINISTRATION OPPOSES AGRICULTURE APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT
News Date January 12, 2010
In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court last week, the Obama Administration opposed the petitions by agriculture stakeholders for the high court to consider a 2009 decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding permitting for pesticide applications. The decision, if left intact, will require pesticide applicators to obtain permits under the Clean Water Act for pesticide applications in, over, or near water. In articulating the administration’s position, the Solicitor General argued that the case did not warrant review by the Court.
NASDA joined with the American Mosquito Control Association in filing a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court in December urging the justices to hear the case. The brief argued that the decision ignored federal laws governing pesticide use, specifically the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), while also burdening farmers and state regulators.
NASDA members are co-regulators with EPA and are the state lead agencies with primacy over pesticide issues. If it stands, the decision will require states to issue permits to cover pesticide applications that are already regulated and legal under the FIFRA and state pesticide laws, laws that also enforce against the misuse of pesticide applications.
The cases before the Supreme Court are identified as CropLife America v. Baykeeper and American Farm Bureau Federation v. Baykeeper. In the Sixth Circuit, the case was identified as National Cotton Council v. EPA. (Contact: Nathan Bowen)