Brook Duer—Staff Attorney
Audry Thompson—Research Assistant
The Agricultural Law Weekly Review provides an
update of recent agricultural law developments from the local, state, national,
and international levels. Subscribe to the ALWR at pennstateaglaw.com.
Dairy Policy:
Borden Dairy Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
On January 5, 2020,
Borden Dairy Company, headquartered in Dallas, TX, and seventeen affiliated
companies (collectively “Borden”) filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy
petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The
bankruptcy proceedings are being jointly administered under Case No. 20-10010. Borden’s bankruptcy claims agent has
established a website for public access to the court dockets, filings, notices
and other legally required disclosures at www.donlinrecano.com/borden. A thirty-one page declaration of Borden CFO Jason Monaco filed in support of the bankruptcy
petitions contains a lengthy narrative account of the firm’s history and what
lead to bankruptcy. Borden maintains a website for public communication
about the bankruptcy at www.bordenfinancialreorg.com which includes FAQ documents addressed to customers, consumers, raw milk suppliers and vendors. According to Borden, the bankruptcy process will be used to “pursue
a financial restructuring designed to reduce its current debt load” and
continue in business. According to its website,
Borden was taken private in 1995, is presently owned by ACON Investments, LLC,
operates thirteen dairy processing plants and ninety-one “branches,” processes
500 million gallons of milk annually and has 3,300 employees.
Agricultural
Labor: Federal Court Enjoins Enforcement of New York’s Farm Laborers Fair
Labor Practices Act
On December 31, 2019,
Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District
of New York entered a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the State of New York from
enforcing portions of the 2019 state law known as the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act which treat family and supervisory employees
as farm laborers under New York law and provide them certain protections
against changes in wages. New York State Vegetable Growers, et al. v.
Cuomo, et al., 1:19cv1720.
The case was commenced by Complaint on December 30, 2019, just two days before the Act was to
become effective on January 1, 2020. The
plaintiffs allege the Act violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment
Due Process Clause and is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act. The
TRO was entered after oral argument of the parties pending a hearing scheduled
for January 24, 2020.
Biofuels: U.S.
Supreme Court Asked to Hear Appeal Involving Renewable Fuel Standard
On January 2, 2020,
Valero Energy Corporation and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers
(Petitioners) filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to reverse
the decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
(D.C. Circuit) in three consolidated cases against the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Valero, et al. v. EPA, No. 19-835. Petitioners were unsuccessful before the Court
of Appeals in seeking to force EPA to apply and enforce compliance obligations
under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program to fuel blenders, in addition
to fuel refineries and importers, as part of EPA’s annual establishment of RFS
mandates.
Farmland Preservation:
NRCS Publishes Interim Rule on Agricultural Conservation Easement Program
On January 6, 2020,
USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) published notice of the
issuance of an Interim Rule, effective December 30, 2019, conforming its regulations
promulgated under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) to
statutory changes made to the program in the 2018 Farm Bill. 85 FR 558. NRCS is accepting public comment on the Interim Rule until March 6,
2020.
From National Ag Law
Authorities & Sources:
Penn State Research:
Sam Sholtis, Water Lily Genome Expands Picture of the Early
Evolution of Flowering Plants (January 3, 2020).
Kristen Devlin, Craft-Beer Boom Linked to Record Number of
U.S. States Growing Hops (January 2, 2020).
Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture Press Releases:
Wolf Administration Celebrates FFA at Annual
Mid-Winter Convention during 104th PA Farm Show (January 6, 2020).
Wolf Administration Announces Pennsylvania’s
2020 Hemp Program Open for Business, Applications Open to Growers and
Processors (January 3,
2020).
2020 Farm Show Butter Sculpture Unites
Consumers Through Things They Love: Good Food, Celebration, Pro-Sports Mascots (January 2, 2020).
Lt. Governor, Agriculture Secretary Host First
Taste of 2020 Farm Show Food Court Menu (January 2, 2020).
Pennsylvania Executive
Agencies—Actions and Notices:
Department of
Agriculture
50 Pa.B. 20 “Standards and Requirements for the Agricultural Business
Development Center Farm Vitality Planning Grant Program” Notice (January
4, 2020).
Department of
Environmental Protection
50 Pa.B. 107 “Stream Redesignation Evaluations; Class A Wild Trout Designated
Streams” Notice (January 4, 2020).
50 Pa.B. 107 “Household Hazardous Waste Education Grant Awards under Section
901 of the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, Act 101
of 1988” Notice (January 4, 2020).
Applications for
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits and Water
Quality Management (WQM) Permits” Notice (January 4, 2020).
50 Pa.B. 106 “Applications for Reimbursement for Certified Host Municipality
Inspectors under Act 101 (Section 1102), the Municipal Waste Planning,
Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988, and Act 108 (Section 304), the
Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act of 1988” Notice (January 4, 2020).
Department of
Transportation/Turnpike Commission
50 Pa.B. 129 “Operational Automated Speed Enforcement System in Work Zones
under 75 Pa.C.S. §3369” Notice (January 4, 2020).
Pennsylvania Public
Utility Commission
Pennsylvania Legislature
S.Res. 153 “A Concurrent Resolution urging the Congress of the United States
to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Trade” Referred to
Commerce [House] (January 2, 2020).
H.B. 376 “An Act amending . . . [P.L.6, No.2] authorizing a tax credit for
a member of a volunteer emergency service organization who purchases fire
equipment with personal income” Laid on Table [House] (January 7,
2020).
H.B. 1189 “An Act amending . . . [P.L.6, No.2] providing for volunteer
emergency responders employer tax credit” Laid on Table [House] (January
7, 2020).
S.B. 905 “An Act providing for the capital budget for fiscal year
2019-2020; itemizing public improvement projects . . .” Referred to Rule and
Executive Nominations [Senate] (December 18, 2019).
Federal Executive
Agencies—Actions and Notices:
Agricultural Marketing
Service
85 FR 638 “Marketing Order Regulating the Handling of Apricots Grown in
Designated Counties in Washington; Increased Assessment Rate” Rule
(January 7, 2020).
85 FR 422 “Regulations and Procedures Under the Plant Variety Protection
Act” Rule (January 6, 2020).
Commodity Credit
Corporation
Environmental Protection
Agency
85 FR 310 “Cancellation Order for Certain Pesticide Registrations and
Amendments To Terminate Uses” Notice (January 3, 2020).
85 FR 307 “Cancellation Order for Certain Pesticide Registrations and
Amendments To Terminate Uses” Notice (January 3, 2020).
85 FR 94 “Registration Review; Draft Human Health and/or Ecological Risk
Assessments for Several Pesticides; Notice of Availability” Notice—Comment
Period (January 2, 2020).
Farm Credit
Administration
85 FR 312 “Sunshine Act Meeting; Farm Credit Administration Board [January
9, 2020]” Notice (January 3, 2020).
Fish and Wildlife
Service
85 FR 487 “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the
Kanab Ambersnail From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife” Proposed
Rule—Comment Period (January 6, 2020).
85 FR 164 “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the
Hawaiian Hawk From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife” Rule
(January 2, 2020).
Food and Drug
Administration
85 FR 714 “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Index of Legally Marketed Unapproved New Animal Drugs for
Minor Species” Notice—Comment Period (January 7, 2020).
85 FR 718 “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Advisory Committee Nomination Applications” Notice—Comment
Period (January 7, 2020).
Forest Service
International Trade
Commission
85 FR 117 “Certain Tow-Behind Lawn Groomers and Parts Thereof From China
Institution of a Five-Year Review” Notice—Comment Period (January 2,
2020).
Land Management Bureau
85 FR 334 “Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement for Domestic Sheep Grazing Permit Renewals, Gunnison Field Office,
Colorado” Notice (January 3, 2020).
Office of U.S. Trade
Representative
85 FR 549 “Notice of Product Exclusions: China's Acts, Policies, and
Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and
Innovation” Notice (January 6, 2020).
Small Business
Administration
85 FR 409 “Administrative Declaration of a Disaster for the State of Texas”
Notice (January 3, 2020).
85 FR 408 “Administrative Declaration of a Disaster for the State of
Mississippi” Rule (January 3, 2020).
U.S. House Agriculture
Committee Actions:
H.R.5430 “United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act” Senate-Committee
on Finance, ordered to be reported without amendment favorably (January 7,
2020).
U.S. Senate Agriculture,
Nutrition, And Forestry Committee Actions:
No new actions January
1-7, 2020
January 1-7, 2020 Top
Tweets:
“Phase-One Deal Set for January 15th, as
Chinese Imports of U.S. Soybeans Surge in November” (January 1, 2020).
“New FDA Labels Include Nutrition Info for
Eating That Whole Bag of Chips or Pint of Ice Cream” (January 1, 2020).
“Family Sues Minnesota State Fair After Boy
Contracts E. Coli, Develops Permanent Kidney Damage After Touching Animals” (December 31, 2019)
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