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 FSIS, environmental, and workers’ compensation issues.
Animal Legal Defense Fund; Sarah Evans; Michelle Schurig; Caroline Lee; Farm Sanctuary; Compassion Over Killing; Animal Protection and Rescue League, Plaintiffs, v. United States Department of Agriculture; Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture; Food Safety and Inspection Services; and Alfred V. Almanza, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, Defendants, No. 2:12-cv-04028, 2016 WL 7235624 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 14, 2016), involved review of a decision under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). In 2009, the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) denied a petition banning force-fed foie gras from the food supply. Plaintiffs alleged FSIS’s denial of the petition was “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law” because force-fed foie gras is unfit for human consumption. Defendants argued plaintiffs “lack[ed] Article III standing, that the PPIA does not protect the interests asserted by the animal rights organizations, and that FSIS acted within its discretion in denying the petition.” Court concluded animal rights organizations have standing to bring such an action and that their interests “fall within the ‘zone’ of interests protected by the PPIA.” However, court also found that defendants “did not act arbitrarily, capriciously, or contrary to law in denying the petition” and granted their motion for summary judgment granted.
PORT SHELDON BEACH ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, Defendant–Appellee, Docket No. 328483, 2016 WL 7233750 (Mich. Ct. App. Dec. 13, 2016), plaintiff appealed summary judgement for defendant regarding “boundary of a critical dune area.” Plaintiff operated a summer resort bordering Lake Michigan and wanted to remove dune grass and seed a portion of its property. Defendant objected because the area was within the “critical dune area” (CDA). Plainitiff argued the lakeward boundary of the CDA was fixed, while defendant argued “the CDA boundary extends to the shore of Lake Michigan.” Court observed that “a meander line does not constitute a boundary line. It is an artificial line to describe the ‘meandering’ course of a body of water . . . and it indicates that the boundary is the water’s edge.” Judgment for defendant affirmed.
Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, Plaintiff, v. Quickstuff, LLC., et al., Defendants, Civil No. 14-6105 (RBK/JS), 2016 WL 7231605 (D.N.J. Dec. 14, 2016) involved the correct classification of employees regarding workers’ compensation claims. Plaintiff, an insurance company, rejected defendants’ classification of its employees as “vegetable farm workers and drivers” for calculation of their premium. Court considered the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (IFPA) and noted, “[a] person or practitioner violates this act if he … prepares or makes any written or oral statement, intended to be presented to any insurance company or producer for the purpose of obtaining … an insurance policy, knowing that the statement contains any false or misleading information concerning any fact or thing material to an insurance application or contract.” Court found defendant misrepresented his business by describing nearly all of his employees as “farm laborers.”
REGULATORY: Includes AMS, APHIS, EPA, FWS, FDA, FSIS, FS, and NOAA rules and notices.
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE: Rule recommendation from California Walnut Board to increase assessment rate established for the 2016-17 and subsequent marketing years from $0.0379 to $0.0465 per kernelweight pound of assessable walnuts. Info here.
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE: Notice APHIS will request a revision to an information collection associated with regulations for importation of table eggs from regions where Newcastle disease exists and exportation of poultry and hatching eggs from the United States. Info here.
Notice APHIS will request an extension of approval of an information collection associated with the regulations for the interstate movement of certain land tortoises. Details here.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY:
Rule EPA will implement a new program known as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA). WIFIA authorizes EPA to provide secured loans to eligible water infrastructure projects. Details here.
Rule establishes tolerances for residues of flumioxazin in multiple commodities. Info here.
Rule EPA is finalizing federal Clean Water Act (CWA) water quality standards for waters under the state of Maine’s jurisdiction. Details here.
Rule EPA is proposing to establish fees related to the provision of federal credit assistance under Subtitle C of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. Details here.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Notice FWS will ask the Office of Management and Budget to approve an information collection. Title: Injurious Wildlife; Importation Certification for Live Fish and Fish Eggs. Info here.
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Rule FDA amends regulation authorizing a health claim on the relationship between dietary saturated fat and cholesterol and risk of coronary heart disease to permit raw fruits and vegetables that fail to comply with the “low fat” definition to be eligible to bear the claim. Details here.
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE: Rule FSIS will establish January 1, 2020, as the uniform compliance date for new meat and poultry product labeling regulations that are issued between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018. Details here.
FOREST SERVICE:
Rule USDA is reinstating the North Fork Coal Mining Area exception to the Colorado Roadless Rule. Info here.
Notice on September 13, 2013, a Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Thunder Basin National Grassland Prairie Dog Amendment on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland was published in the Federal Register. Info here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Rule NMFS is transferring 16.3 metric tons of Atlantic bluefin tuna quota from the 24.3-mt General category December 2017 subquota to the January 2017 subquota period. Info here.
Rule NMFS is adjusting the Swordfish General Commercial permit retention limits for the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean regions for January through June of the 2017 fishing year. Details here.
Rule NMFS announces the State of Maine is transferring a portion of its 2016 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of Connecticut. Info here.
Notice advising public that NOS is preparing a programmatic environmental assessment in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the environmental impacts of NOS hydroacoustic surveys, mapping, and other related data gathering activities. Details here.