Pesticide Permit Decision Upheld

On Feb. 22, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a lower court ruling affecting pesticide applications, effectively upholding a decision that will make life more difficult for growers who apply pesticides via spray nozzle.

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and other agricultural groups protested the court’s decision.

All farmers know they must use chemicals properly,” said Bob Stallman, AFBF’s president. “They also know the label on each chemical they use is the law of the land. Going through redundant bureaucratic red tape for a duplicate permit to apply a safe product is preposterous. That kind of regulatory overkill will not improve food safety or the environment.”

The controversy goes back to Jan. 7, 2009, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overruled an EPA regulation that exempted “pesticides applied in accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act” from needing a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. NPDES permits must be obtained by entities that emit pollutants into national waters, according to the federal Clean Water Act.

The appeals court ruling declared that growers who apply pesticides via spray nozzle were no longer exempt from the permit requirement, but the ruling didn’t go into effect right away. The court granted EPA a two-year stay, to give the agency time to prepare for the new rules.

Starting April 9, 2011, NPDES permits are required for pesticides applied directly to water to control pests, or applied to control pests that are present in, over or near water. Irrigation return flows and agricultural runoff will still not require NPDES permits, as they are specifically exempted from the Clean Water Act, according to EPA.

— Matt Milkovich ”