EPA, Courts and Pesticides

 The Environmental Protection Agency has chosen not to appeal a recent court ruling affecting pesticide use but the nation’s growers hope the court will re-hear the case anyway. Farmers throughout Idaho are hoping a federal court will reconsider a ruling that they are afraid could make them seek permits to apply pesticides to protect their crops.

 “This ultimately could add tremendous expense to the farmer without providing any additional environmental benefit.” The Farm Bureau’s Tyler Wegmeir says growers are disappointed that the Environmental protection Agency didn’t appeal the ruling. They believe current pesticide regulations already cover the issue of how pesticides are used near waterways. “If a farmer is required to have a permit every time they go out and spray, it’s going to take time to get that permit. If in that time a bug or a disease is out destroying their crop, it’s going to cost them a lot of money. They need to be able to respond to a pest or a disease immediately. Having to get a permit could not allow them to do that.”  Wegmeir says the wording of the court ruling is so broad, it will be hard for farmers to know what to do to comply with it. “All it takes is one molecule to be found in a body of water to make the farmer liable and subject to a lawsuit. What this court says is that a permit is required in order to protect them.”