A Court Decision That Could Haunt Animal Agriculture Jan 16,
2013 A 2009 court decision pertaining to pesticide regulation is
a looming threat for livestock producers. EPA, state agencies,
and environmental activists can leverage the precedent of
National Cotton Council v. EPA to require livestock operations
to seek a permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and charge
fines of up to $37,500 per day. The case was a challenge to
EPA’s 2007 regulation that attempted to simplify the CWA’s
regulatory burden on pesticide applicators. In general, point
sources of pollution (read: pipes or ditches emptying into a
waterway) can only legally discharge pollutants if the discharge
is in compliance with a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit. EPA’s proposed pesticide regulation
stated that applicators did not need a NPDES permit so long as
pesticides were applied in compliance with the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
Agricultural interests and environmental groups both