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:
Water: SCOTUS Holds Landowners may Challenge WOTUS Determinations in Court
On May 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United
States held that landowners have the ability to bring legal action against the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) determinations regarding whether a particular
piece of property contains waters of the United States (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. Inc.). According to the Court, a Corps issued waters
of the United States “revised jurisdictional determination” is a “final agency
action” that provides no other “adequate alternative to challenging it in court.”
Food
Safety: FDA Publishes FSMA Final Rule for Food Facility Hazards
On May 27, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) published notice in the Federal Register of a final rule entitled Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food
against Intentional Adulteration (81 FR 34165). According to FDA, the department “is issuing
this final rule to require domestic and foreign food facilities that are
required to register under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the
FD&C Act) to address hazards that may be introduced with the intention to
cause wide scale public health harm.” The final rule becomes effective July 26,
2016.
Labor:
DOL Sues Pilgrim’s Pride for Alleged Hiring Discrimination
On May 25, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor issued
a press release announcing that the agency’s Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs has filed a lawsuit with the Office of Administrative Law
Judges “alleging that Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. has systematically discriminated
against female, African American and white jobseekers at its Mount Pleasant
processing facility.” According to the press release, Pilgrim’s Pride currently
holds federal contracts in excess of $75 million and the company’s alleged
actions violated Executive Order 11246 which “prohibits federal contractors
from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity or national origin, and requires contractors to
ensure equal opportunity in employment.”
Food
Safety: Group Files Suit Seeking FDA Regulation of Oysters
On May 25, 2016 the organization Center for Science
in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed a complaint against the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) regarding CSPI’s 2012 citizen petition filed with FDA asking
the agency to establish a performance standard that would ensure levels of the
bacteria Vibrio vulnificus “are
nondetectable in oysters and other molluscan shell fish sold for raw
consumption.” According to the complaint, CSPI seeks court “declaration that [FDA]
has acted unlawfully by withholding action on CSPI’s petition and an order
requiring [FDA] to act.”
Animal
Health: Report Examines Effect of HPAI on Local Economies
The May 2016 issue of the Agricultural and Applied
Economics Association’s Choices magazine contained a report assessing the
economic effect of the 2014-2015 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak
in the United States. According to the report,
“[a]n initial assessment of the local consequences suggests the outcomes from
the HPAI outbreak resulted in fewer jobs, lower output, lower value-added, and
decreased local, state, and Federal tax receipts.” The report stated that “[a]pproximately
$879 million was spent on the 2014-2015 HPAI outbreak and Fall planning
activities…[a]pproximately $200 million of the total mitigation expenditures
were indemnity payments…to farmers, growers, and companies, $610 million to
response activities on premises…$34 million on Fall planning costs, and the
remaining $35 million likely applied to overtime, travel, and supplies for
Veterinary Services’ employees.”
