New Pesticide Permits in Place as Senate Fails to Act on House-Passed Fix

Because the U.S. Senate failed to act before a court-ordered deadline on House-passed legislation to fix a costly and duplicative EPA pesticide registration regulation, rural businesses are now required to get new permits for pesticides applied on or near waterways. EPA says the permit requirements must be met as of October 31, but operators will be covered automatically under the Pesticide General Permit (PGP) without further submissions for discharges prior to January 12, 2012. However, while the agency says it will delay federal enforcement in certain states, some states with delegated permit authority may not go along.

The House bill—the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act—would have waived the new Clean Water Act (CWA) NPDES permitting for the products if they are already registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), passed that chamber with bipartisan support but bogged down in the Senate despite approval by the Senate Agriculture Committee. House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas called the failure to act “the Senate at its worst.” Supporters of the House bill say Congress never intended nonpoint sources of water contamination to be regulated under the NPDES permit process and exempted ag runoff and irrigation return from the CWA permit process.