Federal

The Trump administration has persuaded a U.S. appeals court to reconsider its recent decision ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the widely-used pesticide chlorpyrifos, which critics say can harm children and farmers.the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it will again review former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s March 2017 refusal to ban chlorpyrifos for use on food crops such as fruits, vegetables and nuts.Pruitt’s ruling reversed a 2015 Obama administration plan to extend a 2000 ban on the pesticide that had covered most household settings. [node:read-more:link]

The United States will resume an anti-dumping investigation into Mexican tomatoes, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, withdrawing from a 2013 managed trade deal that U.S. growers and lawmakers say has failed. [node:read-more:link]

The European Union will profit the most from changes in global trade due to the US-China trade war, with Brazil cashing in $10.5 billion annually if the world’s two largest economies expand the trade war, a UN report published this week showed. [node:read-more:link]

On February 28, 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order 13778, “Presidential Executive Order on Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the ‘Waters of the United States’ Rule.” While not making any immediate changes to WOTUS, the executive order set in motion a process that included the suspension of the WOTUS changes by EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt in January 2018, and the issuance of a new rule, “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States,’” in December 2018 by Acting EPA head Andrew Wheeler.Due to the ongoing government shutdown, the new rule ha [node:read-more:link]

 Agriculture and environmental groups alike are not impressed with USDA's interim final rule on wetland conservation and highly erodible land posted in December. A public comment period on the rule closed on Tuesday. USDA made revisions to codify technical portions of the existing agency policy that had not undergone public review and comment. [node:read-more:link]

A bill requiring Oregon government agencies to protect against “rollbacks” of federal environmental regulations has been dismissed as “political theater” by farm, ranch and timber organizations. [node:read-more:link]

The federal Farm Bill forbids states from preventing the transportation of hemp, and a Colorado company that wants its seized shipment back from Idaho is citing the Farm Bill in a court filing against the state.Still, the Ada County prosecuting attorney’s office argues that hauling hemp through Idaho is illegal and that the seizure was lawful.An Oregon trucker who claims he was hauling hemp from Oregon to Colorado through Idaho was arrested on Jan. [node:read-more:link]

China has agreed to resume purchases of U.S. soybeans following talks Thursday between President Trump and Beijing's top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He. It will start off by purchasing 5 million metric tons.  "Five million tons of soybeans per day," Trump told reporters at a Oval Office meeting with Liu. "That's going to make our farmers very happy. That's a lot of soybeans."The U.S. Trade Representative's Office clarified that the deal is for a one-time purchase of 5 million metric tons. [node:read-more:link]

Federal officials have disclosed that they shipped radioactive plutonium to Nevada in spite of the state’s vehement opposition to the idea and concerns that doing so would be a slippery slope to opening the state up to further nuclear waste dumping. In a federal court filing on Wednesday, National Nuclear Security Administration General Counsel Bruce Diamond stated that the agency sent about half a metric ton of the substance sometime before November 2018, prior to Nevada suing over the proposed move. The transfer was done after a U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The new farm bill authorizes funding to create a new National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, enhances resources for the existing National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and establishes the new National Animal Vaccine and Countermeasures Bank with immediate attention on foot-and-mouth disease. "These programs will provide vital improvements to our national animal disease response capabilities and help protect the livelihoods of ranchers and farmers. [node:read-more:link]