A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE.
JUDICIAL: Labor Law, Indigenous Law
In Nat’l Lab. Rels. Bd. v. Noah’s Ark Processors, LLC, No. 21-2188, 2022 WL 1194397 (8th Cir. Apr. 22, 2022), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) petitioned for enforcement of order entered against purchaser of meat processing facility. The order found that there was a failure to bargain in good faith and wrongful threating and termination of ten workers who engaged in unauthorized work stoppage which violated the National Labor Relations Act. The Court of Appeals held that substantial evidence supported the NLRB’s finding that employees who engaged in work stoppage were fired, not voluntarily separated from the company. The court then found that substantial evidence supported NLRB’s finding that employer did not negotiate to a valid impasse before unilaterally implementing changed terms. Finally, the court found that the NLRB acted within its substantial discretion when it imposed extraordinary remedies of notice reading reimbursement of negotiation expenses against employer. The Court of Appeals granted the petition for enforcement.
In Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah & Ouray Rsrv. v. McKee, No. 20-4098, 2022 WL 1231677 (10th Cir. Apr. 27, 2022), an Indian tribe brought action to enforce tribal court judgment against nonmember and his businesses for misappropriation of water within reservation boundaries but not on Indian land. The District Court entered summary judgment in defendants’ favor and the tribe appealed. Defendant has been using irrigation canals on his non-India fee land that is within the Ute reservation’s exterior boundaries. Plaintiffs claimed that defendant’s use of the water has been diverting the Tribe’s water for years. The Ute tribal court found in favor of the Tribe. The District Court dismissed the case holding that the Ute tribal court lacked jurisdiction to enter the judgment.
The Court of Appeals found that because Defendant is not a member of the Tribe and allegedly misappropriated tribal water on non-Indian fee land, the tribal court could have jurisdiction only if Defendant entered “consensual relationships with the tribe or its members, through commercial dealing, contracts, leases, or other arrangements” or if Defendant’s conduct “threaten[ed] or ha[d] some direct effect on the political integrity, the economic security, or the health or welfare of the tribe.”
The Court of Appeals held that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction over nonmember’s use of water on non-Indian fee land located within reservation boundaries.
REGULATORY: EPA, FWS, FDA, NOAA
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Notice announcing the EPA’s receipt of an application from NewLeaf Symbiotics, Inc., requesting a pesticide experimental use permit for the Methylorubrum extorquens strain NLS0042. Info here.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Notice announcing that FWS has received applications for permits to conduct activities intended to enhance the propagation or survival of endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Info here.
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
Notice announcing that availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Action Levels for Lead in Juice: Guidance for Industry.” Info here.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
Notice that NOAA/NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization to Kitty Hawk Wind, LLC, to incidentally harass marine mammals during marine site characterization surveys off North Carolina and Virginia. Info here.