EPA backing off from new RFS rule

With help from Ryan McCrimmon

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Quick Fix

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— The EPA is backing off from a new Renewable Fuel Standard rule, while setting new biofuels standards for 2020, to the angst of the agriculture industry

— The renegotiated NAFTA overwhelmingly passed the House, a major step toward sealing the deal. The Senate isn’t expected to consider the trade agreement until 2020.

— For the first time, EPA greenlit 10 pesticides to be used on hemp. The agency also announced it is reapproving the controversial pesticide atrazine.

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Driving the Day

EPA REVERSES ON RFS RULE: The agency on Thursday withdrew a proposed rule to set a biofuel blending schedule under RFS for 2020 through 2022, saying it needs to consider more options. The decision by the EPA came the same day it released biofuels volumes for the coming year, which has been met with criticism from the ag industry.

EPA’s actions on Thursday reinforced skepticism among biofuel groups and their allies in Congress that ethanol interests will be fairly represented among refinery waivers granted by the EPA.

Opposition in ag: The National Corn Growers Association sent out an ice-cold statement, saying that corn farmers believe the 2020 biofuels volumes fall “short of adequately addressing the demand destruction caused by EPA’s abuse of RFS refinery waivers.” But NCGA President Kevin Ross said the rule is still “an improvement over the status quo” and vowed to “hold EPA accountable” to its legal commitment of a minimum of 15 billion gallon volume waivers.

Some ag leaders on Capitol Hill were equally displeased. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that “once again, EPA is playing games and not helping President [Donald] Trump with farmers,” as part of a joint statement with fellow Iowan Republican Sen. Joni Ernst

Over in the House, Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) chastised the EPA for “letting farmers down again.”

HEMP PESTICIDES CLEARED FOR SPRAYING: During next year’s planting season, hemp farmers will be able to apply pesticides to their fields after the EPA on Thursday announced it had approved 10 pesticides for use. Until now, no pesticides were allowed on hemp since it was just legalized under the farm bill last year. That made the crop labor-intensive to grow and harvest. The approved pesticides should make the production of hemp more efficient, allowing farmers to scale up in future seasons. Find out which pesticides can be used here.

EPA PUTS ATRAZINE RENEWAL ON THE TABLE: In the same announcement, the agency slid in that it’s preparing to re-approve and issue new guidelines for the widely used herbicide atrazine, which is mostly used on corn but also on sugarcane and sorghum. It’s also used to fight broadleaf weeds on lawns and turf.

Some research links atrazine to birth defects and cancer, and it’s commonly found in waterways and drinking water. Atrazine is banned or being phased out by 35 countries, including the European Union.

To reduce hazards to humans, the EPA said it’s proposing a lower use rate for residential turf applications, new protective equipment and handling requirements, and label language intended to mitigate spray drift. The agency also proposed ending an ongoing atrazine water-monitoring program.

"Although there are potential risks of concern associated with the use of atrazine, with the adoption of the mitigation measures ... any remaining potential worker and/or ecological risks are outweighed by the benefits associated with use of atrazine," the agency wrote in its proposed decision.

Green groups were quick to criticize EPA’s decision. “It’s absolutely shameful that while other countries are banning atrazine, the Trump administration is opening up the tap,” said Nathan Donley, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “This disgusting backward step ignores decades of research and will inflict untold damage on people, wildlife and waters across the country.”

THE STATE OF AQUACULTURE: Sales of aquaculture products passed $1.5 billion in 2018, a 10 percent increase over the last five years even as the number of operations shrunk by 5 percent, according to a new Agriculture Department census report on the sector.

There were more than 2,900 aquaculture farms in operation last year, including 522 in Louisiana and 325 in Florida, the most of any states. But Mississippi and Washington sold the most aquacultural product, which includes farmed fish, algae and sea vegetables, according to the USDA report.

Catfish and oysters were the most commonly farmed species and accounted for the most sales: $367 million and $285 million, respectively. The census covers everything from alligator and turtle production to caviar, snails and live rock. Dive into the data here.

Row Crops

— The fiscal 2020 spending package awaits Trump’s signature after the $1.4 trillion measure passed the Senate on Thursday. More from Pro Budget’s Jennifer Scholtes and Caitlin Emma.

— The Agriculture Department’s proposed changes to the GIPSA rules should be released soon, after the revisions were cleared by OMB. The rules are designed to protect livestock producers from anticompetitive actions by the meatpacking industry, our Catherine Boudreau writes.

— Twelve million American adults said they drove under the influence of marijuana in 2018, according to a new study from the CDC, CNN reports.

— Duck farmers argue in a new lawsuit that New York’s foie gras ban is unconstitutional. La Belle Farms and Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the nation’s two largest producers, said losing access to New York City, their biggest market, would devastate their businesses and the rural communities they exist in. The New Food Economy has more.

— There were 10,000 farms cutting Christmas trees in 2017, down from about 12,000 in 2012, according to USDA data published in April. The number of harvested trees fell from 17.3 million to 15.1 million over that period.