Clean Water Act NPDES PGP Exemption Legislation Begins to Trickle Its Way Through Congress

Legislation to exempt pesticide applications over or near water from the Clean Water Act’s unnecessary and burdensome NPDES pesticide general permit took its first step towards enactment yesterday. The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure marked up H.R. 5089, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act that would exempt pesticide applications, already registered for use over water and tested for water safety per the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), from the NPDES PGP. The legislation was introduced by U.S. Representatives Rouzer (R-NC) and LaMalfa (R-CA).

Since 2009, when a panel of just three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that 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 mosquitos and other health-threatening pests. NAAA sent a letter to leadership of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on 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. 5089 is for the full House of Representatives to enact the bill. NAAA, working along with a coalition of ag and public health interests, are urging H.R. 5089 also be included in a regulatory relief title of the Farm Bill.