NPDES Legislation in Farm Bill 2018
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Last week, NPMA joined manufacturers and applicators urging the inclusion of, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R. 953), in the 2018 Farm Bill. H.R. 953, would eliminate the unnecessary and duplicative need for Pesticide applicators to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) when applying pesticides into or near water. H.R. 953 has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives, but its counterpart (S. 340) remains stalled in the Senate. We have urged the Senate to pass S. 340 and held a hearing for Senate staffers in December. Requesting H.R. 953’s inclusion into the Farm Bill is a fall-back plan in the event S. 340 cannot move in the Senate. The NPDES issue has been a critical issue for NPMA since the court-mandated EPA created the NPDES general permit, and inclusion in the Farm Bill is aligned with our overall farm bill strategy for pesticide regulatory reform.
