J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 28 POTATO GROWER People, Product News Overall, the budget would reduce USDA discretionary spending by 20 percent, drop the overall Department budget by eight per- cent, and lower spending on USDA programs by roughly $230 billion over 10 years. House Passes Bill To Protect Pesticide Applicators From Predatory Lawsuits The House passed legislation last Wednesday to provide farmers and other pesticide applicators a shield against activist lawsuits when legal- ly applying their crop protection tools. In a 256-165 vote the House approved HR 953, "The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act," sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH). This bill would reverse a 2009 court decision that applied a duplicate layer of fed- eral regulation on pesticide applica- tors already operating under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Under that court ruling, despite full compliance with FIFRA, pesticide applicators would also have to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) per- mits under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for applications on or near water bodies. The duplicate layer of regulation carries substantial jeop- ardy as activists (utilizing the citizen suit provision of the CWA that are absent under FIFRA) could sue farm- ers for minor paperwork violations resulting in fines of as much as $40,000 per day. NPC is a strong supporter of correcting this federal overreach and has encouraged the House and Senate to provide the fix to the President for signature. The House has passed similar measures several times since a 2009 court rul- ing mandating the Clean Water Act permits, but the Senate has not