By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Friday, March 30th, 2018

Here’s our gathering of recent agricultural law news you may want to know:

  • The Ohio Department of Agriculture will hold a hearing on April 5, 2018 at 9 a.m. to receive testimony on proposed amendments to the Agricultural Pollution Abatement Program. The amendments are largely alterations of the format and structure of the rule to allow for easier reading, and do not impact the substance of the rule in many situations. Two changes to the substance of the rules is the addition of a duty to prevent pollution from “residual farm products,” which means bedding, wash waters, waste feed, silage drainage and some mortality composting, and clarification of the investigation and enforcement process. Read the ODA’s summary of the changes here. Hearing information is here.
  • Considering solar leasing on your farm? If so, sit in on the Solar Leasing for Agricultural Landowners webinar on April 4 at Noon. The free webinar features our colleague Prof. Shannon Ferrell of Oklahoma State, who will remove some of the mystery of solar leasing for landowners. More information is here.
  • Several groups have filed a lawsuit against the USDA for its March 12 withdrawal of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule finalized during President Obama’s tenure. The rule would have established animal welfare standards for organic producers. Read more about the organizations’ claims in this post by our Ag & Food Law Consortium partner, the National Sea Grant Law Center.
  • Another Consortium partner of ours, Penn State Law, has prepared a comprehensive summary of the current status and legal developments for the problematic Rover Pipeline that is affecting many landowners in Ohio and other states. The summary is here.
  • Ohio legislative activity:
    • The Apiary Immunity bill, H.B. 392, passed the Ohio House on March 21 and was introduced in the Ohio Senate on March 26.  The bill proposes limited liability for registered apiary owners.
    • Rep. Fedor (D-Toledo) and Rep. Sheehy (D-Toledo) introduced HCR 25, a resolution encouraging the U.S. EPA Administrator to declare the open waters of Western Lake Erie as impaired, consistent with the Ohio EPA’s recent water quality report we reported on earlier this week.
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