The 2018 Farm Bill is slowly but surely making its way across the finish line. The House and Senate have each passed a farm bill, and a conference committee has been established to resolve the differences between the two bills. While the House bill includes a robust regulatory relief package, the Senate version does not.

NAAA and the agriculture industry have been working to fix these regulatory issues for over a decade. This might be the last opportunity for several years to finally obtain regulatory relief.

This is why NAAA is calling on its members to reach out to their senators and tell them why regulatory relief needs to be included in the 2018 Farm Bill.

The regulatory relief issues on the line include the removal of the duplicative requirement to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticide General Permit (PGP) for crop protection products already covered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). In addition to being costly and burdensome for small businesses, the NPDES PGP can subject applicators to unfounded litigation. It 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.

Additionally, there is a provision in the House bill that would only allow state and federal agencies to establish pesticide regulations, not local counties and towns.

Specifically, the senators named to the conference committee are: Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), as well as Rep. Mike Conaway (TX-11) and Rep. Collin Peterson (MN-7). If any of these legislators represent you, please email Frank Taylor for a letter detailing the importance of these provisions that you can send to your legislator. You can add your company letterhead and customize the letter in any other way you think would be impactful.

If your senator or representative is not listed above, you can still email Frank to participate in this grassroots campaign to enlist their support of regulatory reform. They still may be an influencing conferee or could influence another Farm Bill conferee.