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 administrative, bankruptcy, and zoning issues.
In AIDRUS ISMAEL SHARIF d/b/a HAYAT FOOD MART, II PLAINTIFF V. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEFENDANT, No. 4:16-CV-67- JMV, 2016 WL 6126371, (N.D. Miss. Oct. 20, 2016), defendant sought an order allowing the Food and Nutrition Service’s administrative appeal record to be sealed. The court observed, “any order sealing a document must include particularized findings demonstrating that sealing is supported by clear and compelling reasons and is narrowly tailored to serve those reasons.” The court also reasoned it “must balance the public’s common law right of access against the interests favoring nondisclosure.” Court concluded the “United States has provided clear and compelling reasons for filing the administrative appeal record under seal.”
In In re: ALLEN L. CRITES, Debtor. GARY L. VANCE, LLC d/b/a SOUTH BRANCH VALLEY LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE, DEREK CRITES, & WAYNE CRITES, Plaintiffs, v. ALLEN L. CRITES, Defendant., No. 15-AP-30, 2016 WL 6208314 (Bankr. N.D.W. Va. Oct. 21, 2016), plaintiff claimed defendant “engaged in a civil conspiracy to defraud him of 63 head of cattle without paying the purchase price,” and sought order declaring defendant (debtor) was ineligible for discharge under the Bankruptcy Code. Debtor claimed summary judgment unwarranted because material facts are in dispute. The court noted that “Section 523(a)(6) provides “that a discharge in bankruptcy does not apply to any debt that arises from the ‘willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity.’” Court found that “there is a dispute as to what transactions made by the Debtor were allegedly willful and malicious.” Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment denied.
HAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Petitioner-Respondent, & DAVID PIERSON, Petitioner-Respondent/Cross-Appellant, v. SUSSEX COUNTY AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT BOARD, Respondent, & BRODHECKER FARM, LLC, Respondent-Appellant/Cross-Respondent., No. A-1360-14T1, 2016 WL 6156202, (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Oct. 24, 2016) involved a dispute over what plaintiff could sell at a farm market located on a commercial farm. Plaintiff appealed a decision by the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) denying its application for a “site-specific agricultural management practice” determination initially approved by the county. Appellate court noted that the SADC “reasonably considered the balance between the Farm’s interests and those of its neighbors, as well as the municipality’s zoning concerns.” Decision of SADC affirmed.
Heritage Sustainable Energy, LLC v. Cty. of Schoolcraft, No. 331279, 2016 WL 6139151, (Mich. Ct. App. Oct. 20, 2016) involved an inverse condemnation action. Plaintiffs owned wind energy leases for the purpose of constructing wind turbine generators. When plaintiff acquired the leases the zoning ordinance stated wind generators were “not principle permitted uses in any zoning district, but may be permitted in any district upon approval of a variance by the Zoning Board of Appeals.” Plaintiffs claimed later amendments to the zoning ordinance “deprived them of all economically beneficial use of their property interests, their wind energy leases, contrary to the Takings Clause of the United States Constitution.” The court noted, however, that plaintiffs did not seek a variance to build “utility grid wind energy systems.” Court observed that, “Because the possibility existed that a variance could have been granted but plaintiffs did not apply, their claim did not satisfy the rule of finality and was not ripe for review by the circuit court.” The court found that the Zoning Board of Appeals had “discretion to grant plaintiffs’ a variance,” and concluded, “The trial court did not err in granting defendant summary disposition on plaintiffs’ inverse condemnation claim.”
REGULATORY: Includes APHIS, FWS, FDA, FSIS, ITA, and NOAA rules and notices.
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE: Rule correcting an error in a final rule published in the Federal Register on January 20, 2016, regarding the exportation of livestock from the United States. Details here.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Notice FWS announces availability of the draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment for Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and the Black River Unit of Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for public review and comment. Info here.
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION:
Rule FDA is amending its regulation on uses of ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs, to remove the designation for certain products as “essential uses” under the Clean Air Act. Details here.
Rule FDA is proposing to amend its regulation on uses of ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs, to remove the designation for certain products as “essential uses” under the Clean Air Act. Essential-use products are exempt from the ban by FDA on the use of CFCs and other ODS propellants in FDA-regulated products and from the ban by the EPA on the use of ODSs in pressurized dispensers. Info here.
Notice FDA announces a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review. In order to determine whether the intended use of a substance in a food-contact article meets the threshold criteria, certain information must be submitted to FDA. Info here.
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE: Rule FSIS will hold livestock owners, transporters, haulers and other persons not employed by an official establishment responsible if they commit acts involving inhumane handling of livestock in connection with slaughter when on the premises of an official establishment. Info here.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION: Notice Department of Commerce is continuing to suspend the antidumping duty investigation on lemon juice from Argentina. Info here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Rule NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for groundfish by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska, except for directed fishing for pollock by vessels using pelagic trawl gear in those portions of the GOA open to directed fishing for pollock. Info here.
Rule NMFS announces its approval of two transfers of 2016 commercial bluefish quota from the States of New Hampshire and North Carolina to the State of New York. Details here.
Rule NMFS is implementing annual catch limits and acceptable biological catches for certain stocks in the monitored and prohibited harvest species categories under the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan. Info here.