Source:  CropLife America, 3/10/11

Last week HR 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act , which seeks to exempt pesticides from Clean Water Act NPDES Permits, passed unanimously out of the House Committee on Agriculture.  Currently, the bill has 54 confirmed co-sponsors and the list grows daily.  It is expected that the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure (water jurisdiction) will mark up the bill next week, likely on the 16th.  In order to get the bill quickly out of the House, CropLife America is urging those interested to take action.

To all groups and coalitions interested in passage HR 872, the bill to exempt pesticides from Clean Water Act NPDES Permits:

   1.  ACTION NEEDED
• HOUSE COMMITTEE ACTION:
• The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) plans to mark up HR 872 next Wednesday, March 16 - clearing T&I is the next step for the bill in getting to House floor.  T&I has jurisdiction of all things water.
• In order to get fastest movement out of the House, we must support of ALL T&I REPUBLICANS and the COSPONSORSHIP of at least 7 T&I DEMOCRATS... BY NEXT WED, 16th.
• As you already know, the House Committee on Agriculture passed out HR 872 this Wednesday without objection.  Ag has jurisdiction of all things pesticides.
• Because of subject matter the bill was referred to both committees for action.
• HOUSE FLOOR ACTION:  Our goal is to qualify for the 'suspension calendar' on House floor. To do that, we must have get 2/3rd's of both Ag and T&I to support the legislation out of each committee, then guarantee at least a 2/3rd's majority of all House members will vote for the bill on 'suspension.'  Moving on suspension means the bill moves quickly, without being open to amendment on the floor; the bill gets an up or down vote  by the chamber.  
• To get to the suspension calendar, we must:
1. Pass Ag Committee with at least 2/3 support - DONE (3/9/11)
2. Pass T&I with at least 2/3 support.
3. Demonstrate to House leaders that we have 2/3 of House in support of bill = all R's + 55-60 D's.  'Demonstration of Support' means actual cosponsor ship, or public commitment to support the bill on the floor, preferably in writing.
FOR THE NEXT 6 DAYS, PLEASE FOCUS YOUR ENERGY ON T&I COMMITTEE MEMBERS, ESPECIALLY DEMOCRATS - We MUST HAVE AT LEAST 7 T&I D's cosponsoring the bill.

   2. SIGN ONTO GROUP LETTER TO T&I
• Attached is a group letter urging support for HR 872 that will be sent to all T&I Committee members in advance of next Wednesday's markup.  
• Please contact Rebeckah (Freeman) Adcock Senior Director, Government Affairs CropLife America 202/872-3841 (office) or 202/365-3921 (work cell)  or radcock@croplifeamerica.org  by next MONDAY, MARCH 14, if your national, regional, state or local organization would like to be ADDED as a SIGNATURE to the letter.  The letter is pasted below.

March 14, 2011

Members of House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear [ ]:

The undersigned organizations urge you to support HR 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, at this Wednesday’s business meeting of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.  Based on a court ruling in the National Cotton Council v. EPA (6th Cir. 2009) case, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and delegated states are required to establish permit programs under the Federal Clean Water Act  for aquatic pesticide applications.  HR 872 is a bipartisan bill aimed at reducing the regulatory burden and duplication posed by this court mandate.

Pesticides play an important role in protecting the nation’s food supply, public health, natural resources, infrastructure and green spaces. They are used not only to protect crops from destructive pests, but also to manage mosquitoes and other disease carrying pests, invasive weeds and animals that can choke our waterways, impede power generation and damage our forests and recreation areas.

Since the inception of the Clean Water Act in 1972, water quality concerns from pesticide applications have been addressed during the registration and labeling process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Imposing a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit in addition to FIFRA regulation will not provide any identifiable additional environmental benefits.

The proposed permit means further unfunded mandates on already struggling governments, and it creates additional red tape, squeezing existing resources and threatening added legal liabilities. The permit’s complex compliance requirements will impose tremendous new burdens on thousands of small businesses, farms, communities, counties and state and federal agencies legally responsible for pest control, and expose them to legal jeopardy through citizen suits over paperwork violations. It could jeopardize jobs, the economy and human health protections across America as regulators and permittees struggle to implement and comply with these permits.  So, we urge Congress to pass HR 872 into law before the permits become final this year.

We respectfully ask that you join Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-FL) and Subcommittee Chair Bob Gibbs (R-OH), as well as Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK), Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN), Subcommittee Chair Jean Schmidt (R-OH), and Ranking Member Joe Baca (D-CA) in supporting this bipartisan bill.  

Sincerely,