Southern
Crop
Production
Association
P.O. Box 7000, Dawson GA 39842
Phone (229) 995-2125
Fax (229)
995-4000
southcrop@earthlink.net
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On Guard
Thumbnail summaries prepared for Busy Executives of underreported events and information recently noted by SCPA. The views expressed in these articles are not necessarily the views of SCPA but the articles were felt to be worthy of your attention.
Commodity Concerns and Biofuels Mr. Kilman explained that, “[Fiona Boal, a food-industry analyst at the U.S. arm of Dutch financial firm Rabobank Group] said Monday she expects U.S. food prices to climb between 7% and 9% this year, and to continue rising in 2009. The government’s Consumer Price Index for all food rose 4% in 2007 after increasing at a 2.4% annual rate during the two years before that. Paul Prentice, president of Farm Sector Economics in Colorado Springs, Colo., Monday raised his food CPI forecasts for 2008 and 2009 by 1.5 percentage points to 7% and 7.4%, respectively. Likewise, Michael Swanson, an economist at Wells Fargo & Co., said Monday he expects food prices to climb 5% to 7% next year, compared with his forecast for a 6% rise in food prices this year. U.S. consumers, who are feeling the sting of high grain prices in what they are paying for everything from breakfast cereal to milk and eggs, will probably next see increases in the retail prices of poultry, pork and beef.” Jerry Hirsch and P.J. Huffstutter, writing on Monday at the Los Angeles Times Online, noted that, “The flood tides enveloping the Midwest will crest across the nation in the form of higher prices in just the places where households have been hit the hardest — food and fuel. Floodwaters have spread across the Corn Belt, preventing farmers from planting soybeans and damaging a corn crop just starting to emerge from the ground. Analysts estimate that flooded Iowa and Illinois and the other corn states might produce 15% less of the grain than last year. Some believe the shortfall will be larger.” The L.A. Times article stated that, “Earlier
this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated demand for corn in the
coming year at 12.5 billion bushels. About 5 billion would be used for feed, 4
billion consumed by ethanol production, 2 billion sold overseas and the rest put
to other food, seed and industrial uses. The nation was on schedule to produce
just 11.7 billion. The shortfall would be made up by corn grown in previous
years and stored.” U.S. Age-Adjusted Death Rate Fell Significantly between 2005-2006 Gulf Plan May Drive EPA Bid
for Water Trading in Mississippi Basin A state-federal Mississippi River-Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, which is chaired by EPA water chief Benjamin Grumbles, is scheduled to unveil June 16 in New Orleans a long-awaited action plan for addressing excess nutrient runoff in the Mississippi River watershed. Excessive levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous result in diminished oxygen levels in waters because they increase algal growth -- a process known as eutrophication -- which eventually lowers oxygen levels. The excess nutrients come from both point sources like wastewater treatment plants and nonpoint sources like stormwater runoff from agricultural land where nutrient-rich fertilizers are used. EPA and other trading supporters hope that nutrient trading programs can help the Mississippi River Basin states deal with the Gulf of Mexico dead zone by creating incentives for unregulated nonpoint sources, such as agriculture, which discharge the bulk of the watershed’s nitrogen and phosphorus, to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the basin. The agency’s focus on water quality trading falls in line, Kieser said, with EPA’s continued push in the Mississippi River region to require tighter nutrient water quality standards in permits, while deciding in previous meetings of the task force to forgo options to create a region-wide total maximum daily load. A TMDL is a measure of how much of a contaminant a water body can take before becoming impaired. States, however, have been generally reluctant
to adopt numeric nutrient standards. Last year, after Grumbles made another push
for numeric, rather than narrative, criteria, the Association of State &
Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators told the EPA water chief that
the agency’s emphasis on numeric criteria fails to address implementation
challenges, including states’ position that nutrients differ from other types of
pollutants and are less amenable to numeric criteria. Climate Risks – “Set Up for
Lawsuits” That's the question posed by a coalition of state officials, pension fund representatives and environmentalists, who are pressing the SEC to draft first-time guidance on the obligations of public companies to disclose the financial risks they face from climate change. Last year the coalition filed a petition asking the SEC to adopt rules forcing companies to disclose information about their financial risks in meeting any federal regulations. The coalition also wants companies to disclose the financial risks they may face from any future climate-related lawsuits. Proponents argue that disclosure of climate risks would provide investors with a more accurate picture of a company’s short-term and long-term financial risks from climate change, including the increasing prospect of regulatory requirements in the United States requiring various industries to reduce GHG emissions. In a June 12 “supplemental filing” to the 2007
petition, the coalition argues that significant legislative, regulatory and
litigation developments have taken place over the past eight months that make
the climate disclosure guidance even more crucial.
Seeking EPA's CO2 Explanation In a June 16 order in In re: Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, the EAB requests further briefing from the agency on its legal defense that CO2 monitoring requirements under section 821 of the air act are not actually enforceable under the law. Environmentalists and several states are arguing that because Congress required EPA to monitor and report CO2 emissions under the acid rain program -- established under section 821 -- the greenhouse gas is already “subject to regulation” and regulators should therefore be required to consider setting CO2 emission limits in air permits for new or modified facilities. One activist welcomes the EAB order, saying it indicates the board “is concerned about EPA's cavalier attempt to throw section 821 out of the Clean Air Act.” But EPA and industry parties say the agency's
longstanding interpretation of the term “regulation” includes only actual
emission reduction mandates. That monitoring requirements could mean regulation
“may be a possible interpretation, but that is not consistent with the
historical interpretation of EPA,” agency counsel Brian Doster told the EAB
during May 29 oral arguments. Key Democrats Back Climate
Bill That Bypasses Dingell's Energy Committee Though the lawmakers said the move was not intended to spark a turf battle between the committees, the issue of which lawmakers have prime jurisdiction over climate change issues has been one of the most contentious in Congress. Speaking to reporters and congressional staff June 17, the new climate bill's chief sponsors -- Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) -- said the legislation would receive its first hearing in the Ways & Means Committee in mid-July, but that they didn't expect any floor action on a cap-and-trade bill during this session of Congress. Rather, the purpose of introducing the bill now, the lawmakers said, is to shape the debate on climate change so that an aggressive climate bill can be signed by a new president in 2009. Traditionally, the energy committee has been viewed as having chief responsibility for legislation addressing climate change. But its chairman, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), is seen as close to the automobile industry and as less supportive of aggressive climate measures than the Democratic caucus as a whole. Also, energy & air quality subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA), who is drafting climate change legislation expected to be introduced later this year with Dingell, is a strong advocate for coal industry interests in his congressional district. In a move widely viewed as an attempt to
counter Dingell and the energy committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in early
2007 created the Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming
chaired by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), who is viewed more favorably than Dingell
by environmentalists on the issue of climate change. It is unclear whether
Markey will co-sponsor the new climate bill, though he recently introduced
similarly aggressive climate legislation of his own. State Group Approves of New
EPA Testing Methods for Drinking Water Contaminants While EPA is focusing on methods to monitor
water for contaminants, USGS researchers may be making headway in understanding
how agricultural chemicals end up in surface and ground waters. USGS scientists
introduced a new study design that is intended to provide a more complete
picture of how the chemicals are being distributed over a wider area. EPA Chemical Program Doubts
Crimp Industry Lobbying Against TSCA Reform EPA has yet to finalize the reforms, crimping a key argument in industry efforts to block the Democrats' TSCA bills. Industry sources say the agency is also struggling to secure the additional funds needed for the effort, raising doubts that EPA will be able to implement it before the next administration takes office. “If this [EPA] initiative doesn’t stop completely [with the change in administrations] it will certainly slow down and that gives [the Democrats] more support,” one industry lobbyist says. While industry sources say they do not expect Congress to take up the bills this year, they believe their lobbying is laying the ground for more intense action in 2009, when lawmakers may focus more intensely on the TSCA measures. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson earlier this year unveiled a series of reforms to its chemical management and assessment program as a way of heading off calls by Democrats and environmentalists to revise TSCA along the lines of the EU's Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program. “While EPA supports the health and environmental protection goals of REACH, we believe that effective protection can be obtained through a more targeted and strategic approach to chemical assessment and management,” Johnson said at an industry conference in March. Johnson proposed several reforms, including broadening EPA's high-production volume chemical testing program to include other categories of chemicals, such as medium-production volume chemicals and inorganics. Johnson also outlined several other changes to the program and suggested renaming the program the Chemical Assessment and Management Program (CAMP). The reforms are intended as an alternative to companion House and Senate bills introduced last month by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA). The companion bills, S. 3040 and H.R. 6100, adopt a REACH-like approach, putting the onus on industry to show their products are safe, while TSCA requires EPA to show they are not safe. Under the proposed Senate and House
legislation, EPA would be required to conduct “safety determinations” on
chemicals in commerce in the United States, with the first 300 due by 2012.
Industry CEOs would have to guarantee the safety of the chemical products they
produce or import before they are allowed into the American market, among
numerous other provisions. Ag Energy Alliance Notice The STB has no legal authority to relieve the railroads of their common carrier obligation. Yet, the railroads are urging the STB to do so. This is a very serious situation that, without your participation, could result in the disruption and ultimate elimination of the transportation of anhydrous ammonia by rail. Relieving the railroads of their common carrier obligation will have broad negative implications for agriculture in general, as well as America’s food security and economy. The hearing is July 22, 2008, but notice of intent to participate and comments on this subject must be received by July 8, 2008. Please make your voices heard and submit comments on your organization’s letterhead to the STB by July 8, 2008, urging them not to attempt to weaken or remove the railroads’ common carrier obligation. The Fertilizer Institute is currently
preparing comments and is planning to testify at the July 22nd
hearing.” Industry Eyes Upcoming EPA
'Waste' Definition To Bolster Energy Supplies Boiler operators, for example, are urging EPA to include in its so-called Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) rule a “petition or other process” to allow regulators to “approve designation of certain materials as fuels and not solid waste,” according to a document that industry recently submitted to the agency. Industry sources say the fuel designations are necessary to allow units that burn hundreds of waste materials as fuels to meet less strict emission control requirements for boilers rather than stricter incinerator requirements, a move that would overcome a federal appellate ruling that struck down key EPA air rules. Among the materials that could qualify for the fuel designation are used tires, cement kiln dust, agricultural byproducts, forest thinnings and other biomass and construction materials. The issue is especially important now, industry sources say, because the price of fuel is soaring and materials such as tires are much less expensive than coal, oil and natural gas. Industry sources say the market for some waste fuel would collapse if EPA defines tires as solid waste that is governed by the air act’s strict incinerator rules. For example, most facilities would abandon tire-derived fuel in order to avoid the increased cost of regulation and the stigma of being defined as an incinerator, a tire industry source says. “If it falls under [incinerator rules] . . . we will not have any more tire-derived fuel out there,” the source says. At the same time, chemical industry officials recently met with EPA and White House officials to urge them to ensure that the DSW rule allows for site-specific waivers that will allow the agency to exempt facilities from strict waste disposal requirements to allow for burning of waste as fuel. The industry officials are seeking the waiver
in the DSW rule because they are concerned that a separate EPA proposal to grant
certain wastes categorical exemptions from regulations when they are burned as
fuel will not be broad enough. “Given that we are in an energy crisis, we would
see [the site-specific waiver] as a step in the right direction,” a chemical
industry source says. Environmental Insecurity The court announced June 23 that it will review Winter, et al. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, et al., a suit that focuses on whether the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) allows the administration to create a special national security exemption. Not making it onto the high court's docket are
several other environmental cases, including: Still pending is a decision from the court of
whether to review Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation
Council, et al. and Alaska v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et
al., appeals that focus on clean water permit requirements for the mining
industry. House Panel Reviews Chemical
Security Regulations Appeal Likely for Ruling
Limiting Suits on EPA Pesticide Decisions The U.S. District court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a suit aimed at speeding the phaseout of azinphos-methyl. Judge Martinez agreed with industry defendants that the challenge to AZM should have been filed under a section of FIFRA that grants appellate courts, not district courts, jurisdiction over the challenges and also sets a 60-day statute of limitations for the challenges. This suit was one of several where plaintiffs
are challenging EPA’s 2006 interim decision to allow continued uses of various
organophosphates without conducting any additional analyses. While Martinez’s
ruling only applies to one of the OP chemicals being challenged in the pending
suit, sources say it could bolster EPA and industry efforts to stave off other
pending challenges to EPA re-registration decisions for other OPs. Power Plants Doubt Legal Basis
for Water Office Climate Strategy The office’s strategy also omits factors other than climate change – such as state and local water laws, land use changes and economic development – that can impact water quality, fails to adequately consider cross-media impacts, and lacks “any meaningful discussion of what financial and other resources would be needed to carry out the draft strategy.” At issue is a plan for how EPA’s water programs should respond to climate change, including using core water programs to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening the link between water programs and climate change research. The Utility Water Act Group said in its June
10 comments that the value of the strategy is unclear, if its
purpose is to guide EPA in changing its water programs. It tries to do too
much, leaping ahead of just outlining climate change may affect water programs
and improving models for predicting those effects to announcing the types of
actions EPA will take to respond to climate change. |
