Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President and CEO Daren Coppock released the following statement on the conference report on the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill):

 

“ARA is happy to see a Farm Bill move forward, however this bill represents a missed opportunity to correct some straightforward regulatory problems that would have had no budgetary impact.

 

“We are disappointed to see language to fix the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulatory overlap once again dropped from the conference report. The association strongly supported language to fix the long-standing duplicative permitting requirement for pesticide applications that are already regulated under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and state laws. This unnecessary requirement, the result of a court case, adds cost, potential liability and compliance burdens without creating any benefit for the environment, worker safety or farmers. The fix for NPDES was publicly supported by all four of the primary negotiators of the report, was in the House bill, was on the table in the last Farm Bill, has previously passed the Senate Agriculture Committee, and yet was still not included in the report.

 

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