Written by M. Sean High – Staff Attorney
The following information is an update of recent,
local, state, national, and international legal developments relevant to
agriculture:
Zoning:
Court Rules Poultry Processing Included in Ordinance’s Definition Agriculture
On October 4, 2016, the Commonwealth Court of
Pennsylvania determined that Paradise Township (Township), York County,
Pennsylvania must permit a commercial poultry processing facility under the
Township Zoning Ordinance’s (Ordinance) definition of agriculture (Balady Farms, LLC, v. Paradise Township, No. 171 C.D. 2016). The court stated
that the Ordinance defines agriculture as “[a]n enterprise that is actively
engaged in the commercial production and preparation for market or use of…livestock
and livestock products…[and that] livestock specifically includes poultry.” According
to the court, the “proposed addition of a chicken processing facility for
chickens raised and bred on the farm…falls squarely within the Township’s
definition of ‘agriculture’ and, thus, is permitted in the Township’s [Rural
Conservation] District.” The court asserted that this interpretation of
agriculture is consistent with Pennsylvania’s Municipalities Planning Code,
Right to Farm Act, and Agricultural Communities and Rural Environment Act (ACRE) which are intended to provide statutory protect for the Commonwealth’s agricultural
operations.
Animal
Welfare: FSIS Proposal to hold Livestock Transporters and Haulers Liable for Abuse
On October 7, 2016, the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued an advance
copy of a document submitted to the Office of the Federal Register entitled Inhumane Handling of Livestock in Connection
with
Slaughter
by Persons Not Employed by the Official Establishment
(Docket No. FSIS-2016-0004). The document
announces FSIS’s “intent to hold livestock owners, transporters, haulers and
other persons not employed by an official establishment responsible if they
commit acts involving inhumane handling of livestock in connection with
slaughter when on the premises of an official establishment.” FSIS stated that “[t]he Agency intends to
initiate civil or criminal action, in appropriate circumstances, against
individuals not employed by an official establishment, if these individuals
handle livestock inhumanely in connection with slaughter when on the official
premises.”
Labor: EEOC Settles Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
with Harrison Poultry
On October 4, 2016, the United States Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a press release announcing that
the agency had reached a settlement agreement with Harrison Poultry, Inc.,
regarding alleged employment disability discrimination at the company’s Bethlehem,
Georgia poultry hatchery. According to
the press release, EEOC filed suit in 2014 charging that Harrison Poultry violated
federal law when it failed to provide a manager with a reasonable accommodation
for his disability and instead fired him.
As part of the settlement, Harrison Poultry will pay the employee
$100,000 and adopt an employee accommodation policy consistent with the
American with Disabilities Act.
Litigation:
EPA Announces Complaint and Settlement Regarding Alleged Violations of
Renewable Fuel Standard
On October 4, 2016 the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) issued a press release announcing that the agency and
the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) had “filed a complaint against
NGL Crude Logistics, LLC and Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC and a settlement
with Western Dubuque to address alleged violations of the Renewable Fuel
Standard.” According to EPA, “[t]he
complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, alleges that NGL entered into a series of transactions
with Western Dubuque in 2011 that resulted in the generation of approximately
36 million invalid renewable identification numbers (RINs)… [which] are credits
created when a company produces qualifying renewable fuel and can be traded or
sold to refineries and importers to use for compliance with renewable fuel
production requirements.” EPA stated that “[u]nder the settlement, Western
Dubuque has agreed to pay $6 million to resolve alleged Renewable Fuel Standard
program violations for generating RINs for renewable fuel that was produced
using unapproved feedstocks and production processes. According to EPA, “[t]he consent decree does
not resolve any claims against NGL.”
