LINCOLN, CHAMBLISS INTRODUCE LEGISLATIVE ‘FIX’ FOR NPDES PERMITS FOR PESTICIDES
News Date August 10, 2010
Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Chairman and Ranking Member respectively, of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee have introduced legislation (S. 3735) that would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)to clarify that additional permits are not required for pesticide applications made in accordance with FIFRA.
This legislation would clarify that permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA), for example, are not required for pesticide applications that comply with FIFRA. EPA is currently developing permits under the CWA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for pesticide applications in, over or near water to comply with a January 2009 decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. (Contact: Nathan Bowen)