NCC Applauds Bill Preventing Burdensome Pesticide Permitting

MEMPHIS, TN – The National Cotton Council fully supports the concept embraced in legislation introduced by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) that would overturn the decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of National Cotton Council, et al, v. EPA.

NCC Chairman Eddie Smith, a Floydada, TX, cotton producer, said, “This bill will restore certainty for cotton farmers who use crop protectant products safely and responsibly. Pesticides have been regulated successfully by FIFRA for years. This bill will prevent EPA from imposing unnecessary, duplicative, and confusing regulatory burdens on farmers.” In its earlier comments to the EPA, the NCC also had emphasized that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) registration process already requires a myriad of human health, safety, and environmental studies to confirm the mandate of “no unreasonable adverse affects” and to establish conditions under which pesticides may be used safely and legally in the United States.

The earlier Appeals Court decision resulted in a mandate to EPA to develop an unprecedented Pesticide General Permit (PGP) for certain pesticide uses. The NCC said it continued to believe that the Sixth Circuit failed to defer properly to EPA's reasonable interpretation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) regarding pesticide registration. NCC worked with other agricultural groups to no avail to have the court decision overturned. 

NCC Environmental Task Force member, Ronnie Lee from Bronwood, GA, said, “The proposed NPDES permit for pesticide use would provide no additional environmental protection yet would impose additional regulatory burdens on U.S. cotton producers. We commend Senators Lincoln and Chambliss for their foresight and diligence on this new bill which would ensure that U.S. agriculture is not subject to unnecessary and redundant regulations.”