EPA is announcing today that it’s issuing a waiver to allow the use of E15 nationwide again this summer, sources tell Agri-Pulse. The agency had previously issued such waivers for 2022 and 2023.
The agency earlier approved a petition from eight Midwest governors allowing to be sold year-round starting in 2025.
The National Corn Growers Association, ethanol industry groups and their allies on Capitol Hill have been pushing EPA to issue the waiver for this summer. E15 is a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol.
Thompson assures on bipartisan farm bill
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson insists he’ll have Democratic support for a farm bill next month, even though there is little public evidence that a compromise is near. Democrats continue to strongly criticize Thompson’s proposal to restrict the projected growth in spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Thompson insisted to Agri-Pulse Thursday that he’s not going to cross any “red lines” spelled out by the committee’s top Democrat, David Scott of Georgia. Thompson said he expects “a rather robust bipartisan vote out of the House Agriculture Committee before Memorial Day.” Thompson said he’s hearing pledges of support for a farm bill from “individual Democrats.”
Keep in mind: Thompson didn’t identify any of those Democrats, and he hasn’t released a bill yet.
BLM makes legal case for conservation rule
The Bureau of Land Management argues that its new rule allowing conservation leases of BLM land can withstand legal challenges, even if they reach the Supreme Court.
In 2022, the high court used what’s known as the major questions doctrine to find that the EPA had gone too far in trying to regulate greenhouse gas emissions without explicit direction from Congress. Some commenters raised the possibility that BLM’s rule could meet the same fate.
But BLM says the Supreme Court’s decision in that case does not apply to the public lands rule.
The agency says both its own analysis and court rulings show that the Federal Land Policy and Management Act’s “animating principles of multiple use and sustained yield embrace conservation use as an integral component of the BLM’s stewardship of the public lands.”
By the way: Environmental groups are welcoming the rule. But the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and its Public Lands Council say the rule “runs counter” to the agency’s statutory mandate to “balance the multiple uses of public lands including recreation, energy, mining, timber, and grazing.” The rule instead “rearranges agency priorities by putting a new, single use on equal footing with long established uses that Congress explicitly directed,” those groups say.
McKalip: Two-way traffic to Baltimore port by end of May
The Biden administration’s chief agricultural trade negotiator, Doug McKalip, says progress is being made in reopening shipping lanes for the port of Baltimore. McKalip said Thursday that workers have opened an 11-foot-deep and a 14-foot-deep channel following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. He said a 35-foot channel should be open to one-way traffic by the end of April, and a two-way 50-foot-deep channel by the end of May.
“Thus far, I think … agriculture, working together, has been able to avoid any major disruptions,” McKalip said. "We certainly want to try to keep it that way."
On ethanol trade: McKalip also noted he would be starting a USDA trade mission to India on Saturday. One of the topics he hopes to discuss is India's ban of on-road ethanol.
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Next steps on Canadian dairy dispute: McKalip said the U.S. Trade Representative is working on next steps following the U.S.’s loss in its most recent USMCA dairy battle with Canada. He said there are “multiple options” for moving forward, but added: “I can’t go into that at the moment, just because that’s something that’s a work in motion right now."
FDA coalition: Biden funding request not enough
The Alliance for a Stronger FDA, a coalition that includes industry and consumer advocacy groups, says the agency needs more funding than the White House is requesting for fiscal 2025. The group is asking Congress to provide the same amount the Biden administration proposed for FY24, some $214 million more than the FY25 request.
“The FDA’s mission expands, and its responsibilities grow every year,” the alliance says. “Its vital activities must keep up with more sophisticated and complex markets that are driven by globalization, competition, and innovation.”
The request includes at least $1.35 billion for human food safety programs and $255 million for animal drugs and feed. These will support agency needs like implementing its traceability rule and upcoming changes to agricultural water standards, the Alliance says.
Take note: Califf told House appropriators Thursday the agency is reducing its financial aid to state and local food inspection programs due to fiscal constraints.
Input sought on nominees for FIFRA science panel
EPA is seeking comments on nominees to fill four slots on its FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, a standing group of seven scientists who evaluate specific questions raised about pesticides regulated by the agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
The agency has identified 12 nominees, 11 from academic institutions in the U.S. and one from the United Kingdom, according to a notice in today’s Federal Register.
He said it. “There are three pillars to … food safety. One is microbiologic. The second is nutrition. The third is the chemical issue, and it's been underserved at the FDA and underfunded and under-emphasized.” – FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, during a House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing Thursday.
Steve Davies, Noah Wicks and Rebekah Alvey contributed to this report.
