The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Aug. 5 approved a Farm Bureau-supported bill, the Sensible Environmental Protection Act (S. 1500), that would clarify that lawful applications of pesticides regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act are not subject to permitting under the Clean Water Act.
If left unchanged, this court ruling could impose duplicative and unnecessary permitting requirements on farmers and ranchers, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
“Requiring permits for lawful pesticide applications provides no environmental benefit because pesticide applications are already reviewed and regulated for use through strict instructions on EPA-approved product labels,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “The redundant regulation is an extra burden for farmers but does nothing to further protect the environment or water quality,” he added.
Under FIFRA, EPA approves labels and specifies the manner of application, which includes a thorough review of impacts to water quality and aquatic species.
Permitting pesticide applications will also impose a resource burden on state regulators responsible for protecting health and the environment. The biggest concern though, according to Stallman, is that the permit requirement exposes farmers and ranchers to citizen lawsuits under the Clean Water Act for ordinary, essential and lawful crop protection practices.
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