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

Judicial: Antitrust, EPA, Clean Water Act

In In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, 1:16-cv-08637, No. 5130 (N.D.Ill. Oct. 18, 2021), the court approved a stipulation between the parties to dismiss, with prejudice, the antitrust claims against Defendant Tyson brought by the Plaintiffs. The plaintiffs in this case were The Kroger Co., Albertsons Companies, Inc., HyVee, Inc. and Save Mart Supermarkets, as well as Associated Grocers Of The South, Inc., Meijer, Inc., Meijer Distribution, Inc., OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC, Publix Super Markets, Inc., Supervalu Inc., Unified Grocers, Inc., Associated Grocers of Florida, Inc., and Wakefern Food Corporation. The stipulation has no bearing on claims brought by Plaintiffs against Defendants other than Tyson.

In In re Clean Water Act Rulemaking, No. C 20-04636 WHA, 2021 WL 4924844 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2021), the court determined whether to remand EPA’s Clean Water Act certification rule with without vacatur. Plaintiffs challenged EPA’s Clean Water Act certification rule and the Biden administration specifically listed the certification rule as an agency action set to be reviewed. The EPA intends to promulgate a new certification rule and sought to remand without vacatur. The court found that the EPA’s request for remand was appropriate and was not frivolous or made in bad faith.

The court then determined that there was a lack of reasoned decision-making and apparent errors in the rule’s scope of certification, indicating that the rule contravenes the structure and purpose of the Clean Water Act, and the EPA itself signaled it could not or would not adopt the same rule upon remand, creating significant doubt that the EPA correctly promulgated the rule. The court also found that the disruptions caused by vacatur and the imposition of an interim rule did not outweigh the deficiencies of the current rule. Because of the two previous determinations, the court held that vacatur of the certification rule upon remand to the EPA was appropriate.

The motion for remand was granted and upon remand, the current certification rule was vacated.

REGULATORY: EPA

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Notice announcing that EPA has determined that the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee will be renewed for an additional two-year period. Info here.