Nov 02, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC –CropLife America (CLA) filed a Writ of Certiorari today with the United States Supreme Court requesting that the nation’s highest judicial body review and overturn a recent decision by a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case National Cotton Council vs. Environmental Protection Agency.
In August, the full Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision vacating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2006 NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Final Rule for pesticides. The action virtually supplanted EPA’s long-standing regulation of pesticides through FIFRA (Federal, Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) with the Clean Water Act. Consequently, pesticide applications made to, over and near any bodies of water, no matter how small, will now require NPDES permits.
“This decision not only reverses more than 35 years of administrative practice and Congressional intent, but mandates the greatest expansion of the NPDES program since the Clean Water Act was enacted,” stated CLA Executive Vice President and General Counsel Douglas Nelson.
“The Sixth Circuit erroneously concluded, in conflict with prior decisions of the Supreme Court and other federal circuits, that the Clean Water Act unambiguously forecloses EPA’s Final Rule and improperly substituted its own judgment for that of the expert agency charged with administering the Clean Water Act.” Nelson added.
CLA claims that the lower court’s decision was erroneous and impedes the intended beneficial purposes of pesticides.
CLA CEO and President Jay Vroom says that existing pesticide regulations ensure that America’s waters are adequately protected and help preserve activities crucial to modern agricultural production.
“Not only will the Sixth Court’s action, if left intact, undermine the benefits of those products but it will also threaten the traditional foundation of well established and functioning Clean Water regulatory activities that also protect our nation’s food supply and public health. This consequence should be of great concern to millions of American consumers, farmers, pest control managers and officials charged with the protection of our forests, waterways, parks and a multitude of other critical, real-life and everyday situations,” Vroom concluded.
The Supreme Court could take up to three months to accept or refuse to hear the case. In the meantime, CLA will continue to monitor all developments and work with key stakeholders toward ensuring that the critical needs of agriculture are preserved.
