WASHINGTON, July 31, 2014 – Agricultural groups praised a bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives today that eliminates a duplicative permit requirement for pesticide application.
H.R. 935, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) to eliminate the requirement of a CWA permit for the use of FIFRA-registered pesticides.
Growers who apply pesticides must follow the label requirements regulated by FIFRA.
The bill, introduced by Reps. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio; Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.; Austin Scott, R-Ga., and Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., eliminates a second requirement for a CWA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The bill passed 267-161 and now heads to the Senate.
National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) President Paul Penner said the bill’s passage “is an important step in addressing the duplicative regulation on pesticide applications.”
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) President Chuck Conner said the strong vote in favor of the bill shows progress toward reducing “burdensome and redundant regulations and the tremendous uncertainty” for farmers and ranchers.
NCFC supports the registration and re-registration of pesticide products under FIFRA, Conner said, because “the act is founded on robust science, ensuring that products in the marketplace can be used while offering the desired protections for human health and the environment.”
Conner said a “misguided” decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009 – a ruling that vacated a 2006 EPA rule --,resulted in the duplicative permitting requirement for farmers
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