A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Join us today at 12 noon (ET) for an Agricultural & Food Law Consortium webinar: “The New Deal: Understanding and Negotiating Dairy Supply Contracts.” Details available here.
JUDICIAL: Includes CWA and animal welfare issues.
In COMMUNITIES FOR CLEAN WATER, Appellant, v. NEW MEXICO WATER QUALITY CONTROL COMMISSION, Appellee, and New Mexico Environment Department and Los Alamos National Security, LLC., Intervenors, NO. A-1-CA-35253, 2017 WL 6884309 (N.M. Ct. App. December 27, 2017), environmentalist group appealed order of the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) affirming decision of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) that denied the group a public hearing on a water discharge permit application filed by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Parties disputed whether NMED could deny plaintiff’s request for a public hearing, and if so, whether plaintiff “established a substantial public interest in the permit application, mandating a public hearing under the Water Quality Act (the Act).” Appellate court concluded that while NMED has “limited discretion” to grant or deny a public hearing, WQCC “lacked substantial evidence to support its decision to sustain NMED’s denial of [plaintiff’s] request for a public hearing.” Reversed.
In PEOPLE FOR the ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS, INC., Animal Legal Defense Fund, Howard Garrett, Orca Network, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. MIAMI SEAQUARIUM, Festival Fun Parks, LLC, Defendants–Appellees, No. 16-14814, 2018 WL 385682 (11th Cir. January 12, 2018), plaintiffs sued alleging defendant “is perpetrating an unlawful take by harm[ing] or harass[ing]” an orca whale in violation the Endangered Species Act. District court ruled “a licensed exhibitor ‘take[s]’ a captive animal … only when its conduct gravely threatens or has the potential to gravely threaten the animal’s survival” and granted defendant summary judgment. On appeal, plaintiff argued lower court imposed “too high a standard” and, erred by not recognizing the “grave threat” to the whale. Summary judgment for defendant affirmed after appellate court concluded the evidence “does not support the conclusion that the conditions of her captivity pose a threat of serious harm to [the whale].”
LEGISLATIVE:
H.R. 381: To designate a mountain in the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra National Forest as “Sky Point”. Signed by President.
S. 140: A bill to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to clarify the use of amounts in the WMAT Settlement Fund. Bill’s text for status Passed the House with an Amendment (Jan 10, 2018) and is now available.
H.R. 699: Mount Hood Cooper Spur Land Exchange Clarification Act. Signed by President.
H.R. 863: To facilitate the addition of park administration at the Coltsville National Historical Park. Signed by President.
H.R. 4760: To amend the immigration laws and the homeland security laws. Bill’s text is now available.
H.R. 4751: To reauthorize the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977. Bill’s text is now available.
H.R. 984: Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017. Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
H.R. 1532: Poarch Band of Creek Indians Land Reaffirmation Act. Bill’s text for status Reported by House Committee (Jan 11, 2018) is now available.
H.R. 4770: To amend the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to permanently extend the moratorium on leasing in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Bill referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
S. 2298: A bill to prohibit oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of New England. Bill referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
H.R. 4774: To prohibit oil and gas leasing on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of New England. Bill referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
S. 2302: A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Bureau of Land Management land in Cache County, Utah, to the city of Hyde Park, Utah. Bill referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
H.R. 4781: To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer certain National Forest System land to Custer County, South Dakota. Bill referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
S. 2297: A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer certain National Forest System land to Custer County, South Dakota. Bill referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
H.R. 4782: To provide additional disaster recovery assistance for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. Bill referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and 7 other committees.
H.R. 518: EPS Improvement Act of 2017. Signed by President.
H.R. 954: To remove the use restrictions on certain land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia. Signed by President.
REGULATORY: includes APHIS, EPA, FWS, and NOAA rules and notices.
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE:
Notice it was necessary to immediately add two new treatment schedules for aircraft for regulated pests to the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual. Info here.
Notice advising the public of our determination that Mexico is free of classical swine fever (CSF). Details here.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: Rule EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut on December 14, 2015. Info here.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Rule FWS announce the revised taxonomy of the orangutan under the Endangered Species Act. Info here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:
Notice NMFS has received six scientific research permit application requests relating to Pacific salmon and steelhead. Details here.
Notice the New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a two-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Details here.