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Hagan, 11 colleagues urge Senate Ag Committee leadership to include provision in final Farm Bill
Story Date: 10/25/2013
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Source: PRESS RELEASE, 10/24/13
U.S. Senator Kay Hagan is leading a bipartisan group of 12 Senators in urging the Senate Agriculture Committee to include a provision in the 2013 Farm Bill that eliminates a duplicative Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation on pesticides. A copy of the letter to Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Cochran is available HERE.
“This redundant regulation creates unnecessary liability and paperwork burdens on farmers, state and local governments, public health officials and small businesses,” Hagan said. “This is not about whether pesticides should be regulated, but rather it is about eliminating an unnecessary and duplicative regulation that wastes taxpayer dollars and provides little to no environmental or public health benefits. Agriculture is our state’s largest industry, and we need to be breaking down barriers that keep farmers from growing jobs, not adding more paperwork. I am hopeful that Agriculture Committee leaders in both the Senate and the House will remove this burdensome requirement in the final 2013 Farm Bill.”
Until recently, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) required EPA to conduct a comprehensive review of pesticides before they could enter the market. However, in 2011 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Clean Water Act permits are also required for aquatic application of pesticides.
“We urge you to include a provision in the final version of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act that specifies that these duplicative permits are not required for the lawful application of FIFRA approved pesticides,” the Senators concluded.
Hagan previously introduced a bipartisan bill to eliminate this redundant regulation. The House included similar language in their version of the Farm Bill, but the Senate farm bill did not include the measure. The Senate and House are now in a conference committee to work out the details on a new Farm Bill to reauthorize the current law.
Agriculture is the largest industry in North Carolina with a $77 billion impact on the state’s economy, and Hagan will continue to oppose redundant regulations that impose unnecessary costs on farmers and associated industries during these difficult economic times. The industry employs one-fifth of North Carolina’s workers.
The following 162 organizations, representing a diverse group of stakeholders from across the country, signed a letter this week that expresses strong support for eliminating this redundant and burdensome regulation in the 2013 Farm Bill.
Alabama Farmers Federation
Alabama Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
The Agribusiness Council of Indiana
Agricultural Council of Arkansas
Agricultural Retailers Association
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Mosquito Control Association
American Nursery & Landscape Association
American Soybean Association
Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation
Aquatic Plant Management Society
Arkansas Agricultural Aviation Association
Biopesticide Industry Alliance
Cactus & Pine Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
California Cotton Growers Association
Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association
Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
The Cranberry Institute
Central Illinois Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Central New York Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Central Texas Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Chicagoland Assoc of Golf Course Superintendents
Colorado Potato Administrative Committee
Colorado Rural Electric Association
Connecticut Environmental Council
Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology
CropLife America
Crop Protection Association NC
Delaware Maryland Agribusiness Association
Delta Council
Edison Electric Institute
Empire State Potato Growers
Family Farm Alliance
Far West Agribusiness Association
Florida Fertilizer & Agrichemical Association
Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association
Florida Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Florida West Coast Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Georgia Agribusiness Council
Georgia Forestry Association
Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Golf Course Superintendents Assoc of America
Golf Course Superintendents Assoc of Southern California
Gulf Coast Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Hawaii Cattlemen's Association
Hawaii Crop Improvement Association
Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation
Hi-Lo Course Superintendents Association
Idaho Grain Producers Association
Idaho Grower Shippers Association
Idaho Potato Commission
Idaho Water Users Association
Illinois Corn Growers Association
Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association
Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives
Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association
Iowa Institute for Cooperatives
Kansas Association of Wheat Growers
Kansas Cooperative Council
Kansas Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Louisiana Cotton and Grain Association
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation
Louisiana-Mississippi Golf Course Superintendents Association
Maine Potato Board
Michigan Agri-Business Association
Michigan Electric Cooperative Association
Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Mid-Atlantic Assoc of Golf Course Superintendents
Midwest Aquatic Plant Management Society
Midwest Assoc of Golf Course Superintendents
Minnesota Crop Production Retailers Assoc
Minnesota Golf Course Superintendents' Assoc
Minnesota Rural Electric Association
Missouri Agribusiness Association
Montana Agricultural Business Association
Montana Electric Cooperatives' Association
Montana Grain Growers Association
Mountain & Valley Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
National Agricultural Aviation Association
National Alliance of Forest Owners
National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants
National Assoc of State Departments of Agriculture
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Barley Growers Association
National Corn Growers Association
National Cotton Council
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
National Farmers Union
National Grape Cooperative
National Pest Management Association
National Potato Council
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
National Water Resources Association
Nebraska Agri-Business Association
New Jersey Green Industry Coalition
New York State Agribusiness
North Carolina Agribusiness Council, Inc.
North Carolina Cotton Producers Association
North Carolina Forestry Association
North Central Weed Science Society
Northeast Ag and Feed Alliance
Northeastern Weed Science Society
Northern Plains Potato Growers Assoc (MN)
North Texas Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Northwest Horticultural Council
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
Ohio AgriBusiness Association
Ohio Forestry Association
Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc
Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association
Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association
Oregon Association of Nurseries
Oregon Cranberry Growers Association
Oregon Farm Bureau Federation
Oregon Forest Industries Council
Oregonians for Food and Shelter
Oregon Potato Council
Oregon Water Resources Congress
Plains Cotton Growers, Inc
PLANET (Professional Landcare Network)
Potato Growers of Michigan
Rio Grande Superintendents Association
RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment)
Rocky Mountain Agribusiness Association
Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
San Diego Golf Course Superintendents Assoc
Sierra Nevada Course Superintendents Assoc
Southern Crop Production Association
South Carolina Fertilizer & Agrichemical Assoc
Southern Cotton Growers, Inc
South Dakota Agri-Business Association
South Dakota Association of Cooperatives
Southern Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Assoc
Southern Weed Science Society
South Texas Cotton and Grain Association
Texas Ag Industries Association
Texas Vegetation Management Association
Texas Wheat Producers
United Fresh Produce Association
U.S. Apple Association
USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
USA Rice Federation
U.S. Hop Industry Plant Protection Committee
U.S. Rice Producers Association
Virginia Agribusiness Council
Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association
Virginia Green Industry Council
Virginia Forest Products Association
Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association
Virginia Potato & Vegetable Growers, Inc.
Washington Friends of Farms & Forests
Washington State Potato Commission
Weed Science Society of America
Western Growers
Western Plant Health Association
Western Society of Weed Science
Wisconsin Agri-Business Association
Wisconsin Cranberry Growers
Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Assoc
Wyoming Ag-Business Association
Wyoming Crop Improvement Association
Wyoming Wheat Growers Association
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