A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE.
JUDICIAL: Includes Water Law
In Wilson v. Happy Creek, Inc., 2019 WL 4384495 (Nev. Sup. Ct., 2019) the court addressed a Nevada law that allows the State Engineer to rescind a water rights permit cancellation but provide that if the State Engineer does so, “the effective date of the appropriation under the permit is vacated and replaced by the date of the filing of the written petition [for the review of the cancellation] with the State Engineer.” Based on the State Engineer’s adherence to this mandate, the respondent lost more than 50 years of priority in water rights – despite having invested nearly $1 million in improving water-use efficiency and otherwise having met all the substantive criteria for maintaining priority of it water rights – because its agent missed a filing deadline by a few weeks. The respondent’s groundwater rights lie in an over-appropriated basin, so loss of original priority dates threatens complete use of water should curtailment occur. Given the circumstance, the court held that the district court properly granted respondent equitable relief, restoring its water rights’ original priority dates.
REGULATORY: Includes APHIS, EPA
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE
Notice advising the public of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s record of decision for the final environmental impact statement titled “Regulation of the Importation, Interstate Movement, and Intrastate Movement of Plant Pests.” Info here.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Notice of request for public comment to help inform the development of an Agency policy for determining if a harmful algal bloom or hypoxia event in freshwater is an “event of national significance” under the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act. Info here.
Notice of request for public comment on a draft National Water Reuse Action Plan which seeks to foster greater consideration of water reuse across the water sector, such as agriculture, industry, potable water and more. Info here.
Notice that the Good Neighbor Environmental Board will hold a public teleconference on September 19, 2019. The Good Neighbor Environmental Board is a federal advisory committee that is required to submit an annual report to the President on environmental and infrastructure issues along the U.S. border with Mexico. Info here.