03/30/05 Clean Water Act comment period

03/30/05 Clean Water Act comment period

Just for clarification, when N.P.D.E.S. is mentioned in connection with the federal Clean Water Act, it stands for the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. And yes, according to Allen Noe of Crop Life America, it does have application to agriculture. NOE: You'd tend to think of this being applied to manufacturing facilities or so called end of the pipe discharge, where you would need a Clean Water Act permit. And unfortunately, there were some court decisions out in the Pacific Northwest that basically said that for some applications of aquatic pesticides, you needed such a permit. Noe says one such case was the Headwaters vs. Talent Irrigation District of Oregon matter in 2001, in which a court ruled the District violated the Clean Water Act by not applying for a N.P.D.E.S. permit when applying pesticides along a canal. That matter, along with a California case that narrowed the long standing E.P.A. rule that exempted pest and fire control and other forestry activities, led to a push by Crop Life America and other ag interests to determine if a N.P.D.E.S. permit was needed to apply pesticides. NOE: We at Croplife America had been working with E.P.A. to try to get some clarification on this issue and we were successful in that E.P.A. issued a guidance statement and then followed up with an additional guidance statement saying that for the application of pesticide in situations you did not need a Clean Water Act permit. But we have felt that the guidance does not have the standing of a regulation. The modification of the rule is the subject of an open public comment period that concludes April Fourth. Noe says comments are being gathered both directly through the Environmental Protection Agency's website, and indirectly through Crop Life America's website at www.croplifeamerica.org. And considering the significance of the current rule and how it could affect the use of crop protection chemicals for growers and ranchers, Noe says the ag industry is behind this measure. NOE: We're getting a lot of support from the commodity groups and farm organizations both at the national and state level, and they have been assisting us in funneling comments from their membership into E.P.A.
Previous Report03/29/05 New methane digester project in Idaho
Next Report03/31/05 Eye on the fire season