A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions to: camarigg at uark.edu
JUDICIAL: Includes equity, procedural, and damages issues.
SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT et al., Plaintiffs & Respondents, v. SAN GABRIEL VALLEY WATER COMPANY et al., Defendants & Appellants; CUCAMONGA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, Intervenor & Appellant., No. E063180, 2016 WL 4211742 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 10, 2016) involved some water utilities claiming groundwater pumping rights to a drainage basin. In 1961, the parties had agreed to a stipulated judgment “establishing a plan for groundwater pumping rights within the Basin.” In February 2015, a court granted a preliminary injunction, “limiting the groundwater pumping rights in the Basin to a maximum of 2,520 acre-feet per year by defendants during drought years, as provided under the 1961 Decree.” Defendants argued plaintiffs failed to prove “imminent, irreparable, or any harm caused by defendants’ pumping,” and sought to reverse the injunction. Court concluded defendants’ ultimate goal was to “modify or negate the 1961 Decree and to eliminate the pumping limitations imposed by the decree.” Court further determined “that the 1961 Decree applies according to its terms, and therefore the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction prohibiting appellants from violating the 1961 Decree.” Judgment for plaintiffs affirmed.
In Fitzer v. Am. Inst. of Baking, No. CV 209-169, 2016 WL 4223612 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 9, 2016), plaintiff allegedly got salmonella poisoning after eating peanut butter supplied by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). Defendant had contracted to inspect PCA’s food-production plants and plaintiff sued claiming they negligently performed the inspection at PCA’s facility. Defendant countered plaintiff could not satisfy Georgia’s long-arm statute or show defendant had established minimum contacts with Georgia. In siding with defendant the court stated, “Notable here is that where a parent corporation and its subsidiary are separate and distinct corporate entities, one’s minimum contacts with a forum state may not be attributed to the other for personal-jurisdiction purposes.” Plaintiff’s claims dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Elvin v. Gubert, No. 326563, 2016 WL 4203512 (Mich. Ct. App. Aug. 9, 2016) concerned a veterinarian malpractice action arising from the death of a horse. A jury awarded plaintiff $198,049.09 and defendant appealed the calculation of damages. The court reasoned that, “In determining whether the jury award was supported by the evidence, a trial court must look to ‘objective criteria relating to the actual conduct of the trial or the evidence presented.’” Defendant argued jury award was excessive because it was based on testimony that the horse had the “potential to win purses” and, because the horse had never raced, such testimony was “speculative and beyond the proper measure of damages.” Court disagreed and found the damages were based on the horse’s value at the time of his death and that it “was not based on lost earnings.” Jury award affirmed.
In WILLIAM F. HOLDNER, D.B.A. HOLDNER FARMS Plaintiff, v. KATY COBA, DIRECTOR OF OREGON DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, IN HER INDIVIDUAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY; DICK PEDERSON, DIRECTOR OF THE OREGON DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, IN HIS INDIVIDUAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY, Defendants., No. 3:15-CV-2039-AC, 2016 WL 4210776 (D. Or. Aug. 8, 2016), plaintiff disputed the state’s authority to regulate livestock operations on his land and alleged deprivation of due process and claimed the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) acted beyond their authority. On June 1, 2016, the court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint “with prejudice.” On June 17, 2016, plaintiff filed a motion for “reconsideration” of the court’s order. The court reasoned that “Reconsideration is an ‘extraordinary remedy, to be used sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources.’” In denying plaintiff’s motion, the court ruled that plaintiff “had a full and fair opportunity to be heard on these issues during motion practice.”
REGULATORY: Includes AMS, USDA, APHIS, DEA, EPA, FCIC, FDA, FS, ITA, NASS, and NOAA rules and notices.
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE: Rule amending the Dairy Promotion and Research Order. Info here.
AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT: Notice USDA has developed a Statement of Principles on Industrial Hemp to inform the public how Federal law applies to activities associated with industrial hemp grown and cultivated in accordance with Section 7606 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Info here.
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE:
Rule amending the National Poultry Improvement Plan, its auxiliary provisions, and the indemnity regulations for the control of H5 and H7 low pathogenic avian influenza. Details here.
Rule APHIS seeks to amend the regulations governing the importation of plants for planting to add orchid plants of the genera Phalaenopsis and Cymbidium from the Republic of Korea to the list of plants that may be imported into the continental US in an approved growing medium. Details here.
Notice advising public that APHIS will extend determination of nonregulated status of Okanagan Specialty Fruits’ (OSF) GS784 and GD743 apples to OSF NF872 `Arctic[supreg] Fuji apple’. Info here.
Notice APHIS will prepare an updated environmental impact statement to analyze the effects of a program to eradicate exotic fruit fly species from wherever they might occur in the United States, including Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Info here.
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION: Notice USDA has developed a Statement of Principles on Industrial Hemp to inform the public how Federal law applies to activities associated with industrial hemp that is grown and cultivated in accordance with Section 7606 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Info here.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY:
Rule EPA approves a revision to the Indiana State Implementation Plan submitted by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on October 16, 2015. Info here.
Rule BSEE proposes to amend regulations requiring lessees and owners of operating rights to submit summaries of actual decommissioning expenditures incurred for decommissioning activities related to oil and gas and sulfur operations on the Outer Continental Shelf. Info here.
FEDERAL CROP INSURNACE CORPORATION: Rule FCIC finalizes the General Administrative Regulation–Subpart V–Submission of Policies, Provisions of Policies, Rates of Premium, and Non-Reinsured Supplemental Policies. Info here.
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Notice USDA has developed a Statement of Principles on Industrial Hemp to inform the public how Federal law applies to activities associated with industrial hemp that is grown and cultivated in accordance with Section 7606 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Details here.
FOREST SERVICE:
Notice the Flathead Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet September 12 in Kalispell, Montana. Info here.
Notice the Flathead Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet September 20 in Kalispell, Montana. Details here.
Notice the Flathead Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet September 29 in Kalispell, Montana. Info here.
Notice the Glenn and Colusa County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Willows, California. Info here.
Notice the Southwest Mississippi Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Meadville, Mississippi. Info here.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION: Notice the Department of Commerce is conducting an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain pasta from Italy, covering the period July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. Info here.
NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE: Notice USDA has submitted information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Title: Fruits, Nut, and Specialty Crops. Info here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Notice the New England Fishery Management Council is scheduling a public meeting of its Groundfish Advisory Panel to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone. Details here.
Notice the New England Fishery Management Council is scheduling a joint public meeting of its Monkfish Committee on Thursday, September 1, 2016 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Details here.
Notice NMFS announces a Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review of the report “Stock Assessment of the Coral Reef Fishes of Hawaii, 2016.” Info here.