A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE.

REGULATORY: USDA, EPA, FWS

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Final rule establishing an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of calcium bisulfate when used as an inert ingredient (acidifying/buffering agent) in antimicrobial formulations applied to food-contact surfaces in public eating places, dairy-processing equipment, and food-processing equipment and utensils, limited to 2,000 parts per million (ppm). Info here.

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Proposed rule announcing FWS’s 12-month finding on a petition to list the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), North America’s largest freshwater turtle species, as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. FWS finds that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, FWS proposes to list the alligator snapping turtle as a threatened species. If FWS finalizes this rule as proposed, it will add the species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act’s protections to the species. Info here.

Proposed rule announcing FWS proposes to list the Egyptian tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni), a terrestrial tortoise from Libya, Egypt, and Israel, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This determination also serves as a 12-month finding on a petition requesting that the Egyptian tortoise be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Act. FWS finds that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, FWS proposes to list the Egyptian tortoise, as a threatened species. If FWS finalizes this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act’s protections to the species. Info here.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Notice announcing a new Privacy Act System of Records titled USDA/OSEC-02 Contractor and Visitor Public Health Emergency Records, which include information on contractor employees who work in, as well as visitors to, Department of Agriculture (USDA) facilities during declared public health emergencies. Info here.