Unlike the partisan rancor surrounding the House Farm Bill, the Senate Farm Bill overwhelming passed by a vote of 20-1 out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday afternoon. However, also unlike the House Farm Bill, the Senate bill did not include any major regulatory relief provisions, such as exempting the duplicative NPDES pesticide general permit requirements for applicators since pesticides must already meet robust safety tests for water before they are registered under FIFRA. There is still a possibility regulatory relief provisions could be added on the Senate floor or added when the House and Senate bills go into a conference committee. Senate leaders wanted to keep the Farm Bill as simple and as uncontroversial as possible because the Senate Farm Bill will need 60 votes, requiring support from both Republicans and Democrats.

One of the other reasons the bill passed overwhelmingly out of the committee is because aside from some small technical changes, the bill doesn’t make any changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps. This contrasts with the House version of the bill, where lawmakers are attempting to enact stricter work requirements.

A House vote on the Farm Bill failed last month after the conservative Freedom Caucus withheld their votes over unrelated immigration legislation. A re-vote has been tentatively set for June 22, assuming the Freedom Caucus and House leadership can come to a compromise on immigration.

Once the House and Senate pass their respective Farm Bills, a conference committee will meet to hammer out differences. Once both houses pass identical legislation, it will go to the president for his signature. Most provisions in the current Farm Bill expire Sept. 30, 2018. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said at today’s markup he wants to see the Senate pass the Farm Bill before the July 4 recess.

Below are updates on some of the issues important to aerial applicators as they relate to the House and Senate Farm Bills: 

NPDES-PGP Exemption

NAAA, along with dozens of industry partners and 29 state and regional ag aviation associations, sent a letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee asking S.340, The Sensible Environmental Protection Act, be included in the Senate Farm Bill. The inclusion of this bill is important to aerial applicators because it would eliminate the need for a costly National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticide General Permit (PGP) for products already certified under FIFRA. In addition to being costly and burdensome for small businesses, the NPDES PGP can subject applicators to unfounded litigation and is also unnecessary because pesticides are already tested and regulated under FIFRA for water safety, with strict instructions indicated on the EPA-approved product label to protect water. The EPA has previously testified to the adequacy of FIFRA’s comprehensive regulatory requirements including protection of aquatic species and drinking water.

Prior to the committee markup on Wednesday, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) submitted an amendment to to eliminate the duplicative NPDES permit. However, she withdrew the amendment at the committee hearing Wednesday morning because there were disagreements over whether or not NPDES legislation was germane to the Farm Bill.  Senate Ag Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) did pledge to continue working on the issue as the process proceeds.

Cooperative Federalism

Senator David Perdue (R-GA) introduced an “cooperative federalism” amendment that would allow only state lead pesticide agencies to regulate crop protection products. This amendment is important because in recent years it has become more common for local counties and municipalities to regulate the use of crop protection products, notably the enacted ballot measure in Lincoln County, Ore., that effectively banned aerial application in the county. The measure in the farm bill would allow only state lead pesticide agencies to regulate crop protection products. While there is a risk states could impose burdensome statewide regulations, the crop protection industry believes state-level experts are better equipped to make those decisions as opposed to having a patchwork of different regulations decided by towns and counties. However, senator Perdue also withdrew his amendment for consideration.

Agricultural Research Funding