A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions to: camarigg at uark.edu
CASE LAW: Today’s cases include prescriptive rights, Bureau of Land Management, and nuisance.
City of Santa Maria v. Adam, No. H041133, 2016 WL 3517417 (Cal. Ct. App. June 24, 2016) concerned groundwater rights in the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin. The trial court held that the City of Santa Maria had established a total prescriptive right of 5100 acre feet per year. Significantly, this prescriptive right was “perfected against the Basin aquifer as a whole and only a proportionate amount of the prescriptive right could be exercised against appellants’ overlying rights.” Appellate court affirmed trial court’s ruling that it did not need to “specifically quantify the proportionate prescriptive rights that could be attributable to appellants.” Appellate court further concluded the trial court properly quieted title.
STATE OF WYOMING, STATE OF COLORADO, Petitioners, STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA, STATE OF UTAH, & UTE INDIAN TRIBE, Intervenor-Petitioners, vs. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; SALLY JEWELL, in her official capacity as Sec’y of the Interior; UNITED STATES BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; & NEIL KORNZE, in his official capacity as Dir. of the Bureau of Land Mgmt., Respondents, SIERRA CLUB, EARTHWORKS, WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES, CONSERVATION COLOARDO EDUCATION FUND, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, & SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE, Intervenor-Respondents. INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, & WESTERN ENERGY ALLIANCE, Petitioners, vs. SALLY JEWELL, in her official capacity as Sec’y of the United States Dep’t of the Interior; & BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, Respondents., No. 2:15-CV-041-SWS, 2016 WL 3509415 (D. Wyo. June 21, 2016) involved a challenge to the Bureau of Land Management’s “issuance of regulations applying to hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands.” The court ruled that the Bureau of Land Management “lacked Congressional authority to promulgate the regulations.”
In Crosstex N. Texas Pipleline, L.P. v. Gardiner, No. 15-0049, 2016 WL 3483165 (Tex. June 24, 2016), plaintiff, owner of an undeveloped 95-acre ranch, filed suit against defendant, owner of a natural gas pipeline, for private nuisance, ordinary negligence, and gross negligence. Court considered what constitutes a “nuisance” arising to liability under Texas law and held that the term “nuisance” refers to “interference with the use and enjoyment of real property.” The court of appeals’ judgment was affirmed and the case remanded to trial court for a new trial.
REGULATORY: Includes APHIS, FSIS and RHS rules and notices.
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE: Notice that USDA submitted information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review. Title: Horse Protection Regulations. Info here.
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE: Rule that FSIS amends the meat and poultry inspection regulations to provide for an electronic export application and certification system. Info here.
RURAL HOUSING SERVICE: Notice informing public of policies and procedures for the Rural Development Voucher Program for FY 2016. Details here.