Clean Water Act NPDES PGP Exemption Legislation Begins Another Trickle Through Congress, Hopefully Towards Enactment

Yesterday, legislation was marked up through the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that would exempt pesticide applications made over or near water from obtaining unnecessary and burdensome NPDES pesticide general permits under the Clean Water Act. The legislation, H.R. 3824, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, introduced by U.S. Representative David Rouzer (R-NC), would no longer require permits as pesticides are already registered for use over water and tested for water safety per the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Since 2009, when a panel of just three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the EPA regulate FIFRA-registered pesticides by requiring NPDES permits for applications made over water, NAAA has been urging Congress to enact legislation that would eliminate the significant legal liability and paperwork burdens on aerial applicators, mosquito abatement districts, and others that treat disease-carrying mosquitoes and other health-threatening pests. NAAA had advocated and sent supporting documentation to Congress about the importance of enacting this legislation to eliminate duplicative regulatory statutes affecting pesticide applications. The next step in this process towards enactment of H.R. 3824 is for the full House of Representatives to enact the bill. NAAA, working along with a coalition of ag and public health interests, is also urging H.R. 3824 to be included in a regulatory relief title of the Farm Bill. NAAA thanks Congressman Rouzer for his work on this important issue that would provide regulatory relief for the industry, and it will continue to work towards enactment of the legislation.