Category Archives: Federal Regulations

USDA Interim Final Hemp Rule Summary

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UPDATE: On February 27, 2020, the USDA announced that it will temporarily delay enforcement of two provisions of the Interim Final Rule on hemp production. until October 31, 2021 or the publication of the Final Rule, whichever is earlier.  First, the DEA will delay enforcing the requirement that THC testing must be conducted at DEA registered laboratories.  Instead, testing may be conducted by labs that are not yet DEA registered.  Second, USDA will delay enforcement of the requirement that producers use a DEA-registered reverse distrubutor or law enforcement… Read More →

October 18, 2019 Weekly Round Up

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It’s time for another ag law weekly round up! I’d like to be sure and welcome those of you joining us from recent programs I spoke at in Brenham and College Station.  We’re glad you’re here. Here are some of the stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. * Kinder Morgan & City of Kyle settle lawsuit over ordinance preventing Permian Highway pipeline. You may recall from this prior post that the City of Kyle recently passed an ordinance requiring pipelines over 30″ in diameter to… Read More →

June 14, 2019 Weekly Round Up

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of agricultural law.  I want to welcome those of you who I met at speaking events for the Hill Country Cattle Women in Fredericksburg and the Owning Your Piece of Texas Ag Law Workshop in San Antonio.  If you’d like to see an article  and short video about our Owning Your Piece of Texas program, click here. Here are some of the major ag law stories in the news over the past two weeks. *Lawsuit filed against US… Read More →

May 3, 2019 Weekly Round Up

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Happy May!  Welcome to this week’s Agricultural Law Round Up. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but I want to say welcome to those of you who I met presenting in Canadian, Burnet, and Kerrville!  Here are some of the ag law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. *Settlement offer in Maui County v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund could remove case from SCOTUS docket.  This week, news broke that a settlement offer had been made by plaintiffs in the Maui County  Clean Water Act case, which… Read More →

2018 Ag Law Year in Review

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Well, it’s been quite a year for agricultural law!  Looking back, it has been interesting to see the variety of legal issues that have come up in the last 365 days.  From a major class action settlement by Syngenta to new electronic logging device rules to nuisance litigation in North Carolina, there are numerous issues of which agricultural producers should be aware. If you want to hear more about these topics, Paul Goeringer and I did a Year in Review joint podcast.  You can listen here.  {Since we… Read More →

October 5, 2018 Weekly Round Up

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Welcome to this week’s round up post.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Here are some of the agricultural law stories in the news this week. *Environmental groups file suit against EPA regarding air emissions reporting for agriculture.  This is a continuation of an issue we’ve been watching for several years.  You may recall that back in April of 2017, a federal court ruled that animal agricultural operations were required to report air emissions to federal authorities under the federal CERCLA and EPCRA statutes.  Then, in April of this… Read More →

EPA: No Animal Waste Emissions Reporting Required for Agriculture

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a new website to make clear the agency’s position on air emissions reporting for animal waste.  You can access that webpage here. As you may recall from this prior blog post and this prior podcast episode, this issue came to the forefront when a federal court held in 2017 that agricultural operations were required to report air emissions under federal law upon finding that the EPA did not have the authority to create an exemption for agriculture.  There are two federal… Read More →

Revised Outline for Analyzing FMCSA Hauling Regulations

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You may recall that last month, Beth Rumley from the National Ag Law Center and I published a fact sheet outlining the steps to analyze if various Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations would apply.  Given some new legislation and some additional guidance from FMCSA, we have now made important revisions to the fact sheet. You can access the most recent version of our publication here. The major modifications include the following: (1) FMCSA granted an additional 90-day waiver of the electronic logging device rules to anyone… Read More →

March 16, 2018 Weekly Round Up

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It’s been a busy week for me and for agricultural law!  On Wednesday I spoke in Albany, Texas at a program hosted by the Leon Bosque RC&D and on Thursday evening I was in Brownwood to speak at the Brown County Ag Day.  Welcome to those of you joining from those events. Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. * FMCSA Extends Agricultural Exemption to New Hauling Regulations Another 90 Days.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced that it will… Read More →

March 2, 2018 Weekly Round Up

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Phew!  It has been a heck of a week!  On Monday, I was in Cat Spring for our Ranchers Leasing Workshop.  We had a great turnout of 95 folks!  On Tuesday, I was in Waco speaking to the Master Marketer course.  Wednesday brought me back to the Panhandle to speak at the 4th Annual Biennial Water Conservation Symposium.  Welcome to all of you joining from these events. *”FARM” Act introduced in US Senate would exempt agriculture from air emissions reporting.  The Fair Agricultural Reporting Method (FARM) Act, a… Read More →