EPA administrator on Clean Water Act permits and on spray drift
Farm and Ranch March 15, 2011 The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, appeared before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee last week. One topic covered was the court ordered Clean Water Act permits for certain pesticide applications. EPA is supposed to have a permitting system in place by April 9th. Jackson told the committee. Jackson: “EPA has been working with the states and just recently requested from the court another delay to continue working with states on what we call a general permit. General permits are I would say the least burdensome.” Jackson emphasized who a general permit under the Clean Water Act would and would not apply to. Jackson: “What we have been working on, it would not apply to people who only apply to land. And it doesn‘t apply to runoff or irrigation return flows. It applies if you apply pesticides to water, on purpose.” Jackson told Agriculture Committee members one of the myths about EPA is what the agency is going to do regarding spray drift. Jackson: “EPA does not support a no spray drift policy. EPA has been on the record numerous times saying this but the incorrect belief that EPA is promulgating a no drift policy persists. We have reached out to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and other key stakeholders. Working with them we have been able to identify critical issues and we will continue our efforts to resolve them.” I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net. ? ? ? ? ?
