June 12, 2012

 

Senator Kay Hagan

United States Senate

521 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

 

Dear Senator Hagan:

 

On behalf of the 653,000 North Carolinians who are employed in the Agribusiness Industry in our great state, the NC Agribusiness Council would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your leadership on the NPDES issue.

 

Pesticides when applied consistent with FIFRA label directions are not pollutants and therefore should not require NPDES permits. Yet because of the unwarranted decision of the 6th Circuit, new NPDES requirements for monitoring and surveillance, planning, recordkeeping, reporting and other tasks will create significant delays, costs, reporting burdens – without enhancing the environmental protections provided by FIFRA compliance. 

 

Your efforts to conclusively declare that under both the Clean Water Act and FIFRA, no NPDES permit is required for the labeled use of any registered pesticide are greatly appreciated. But the clock is ticking and it is imperative that the issue be resolved in 2012. Even though the EPA indicates it does not intend to cover most agricultural and residential applications, nothing in the CWA or the proposed permit actually protects citizens suits against those not obtaining a permit. And activists have clearly indicated they believe ALL pesticide applications should be permitted if there is even a chance that a pesticide come in contact with any “water”.

 

Legislation, including the study, you have proposed is a common sense approach to protect not just our Agribusiness industry from unnecessary and duplicative costs and burdens – but the environment is better protected by allowing FIFRA and CWA to stand as initially intended by Congress.  

 

Again, thank you for your leadership on this very important issue.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Erica Peterson

Executive Vice President/CEO

NC Agribusiness Council, Inc