We’ve reached another Friday! There is certainly no shortage of agricultural law news recently.
Photo by Karli Kaase
* Synagro releases independent study in Johnson County, TX concluding fertilizer did not cause PFAS contamination. You may recall from this prior blog post that Johnson County landowners have filed several lawsuits related to PFAS contamination of their land allegedly caused by Synagro biosolid fertilizer. This week Synagro issued a press release announcing the results of an independent study conducted on the Johnson County land. The study, done by Parsons Corporation and Dr. Linda Lee, a Purdue University professor specializing in PFAS concluded the Synagro Granulite fertilizer could not have been the source of the PFAS levels found in fish and animals on adjacent properties. [Read press release here.]
* EPA will revise WOTUS Rule…again. EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced that the agency will work with the US Army Corps of Engineers to revise the definition of “Waters of the United States.” This will include a series of six listening sessions to be held to solicit feedback from interested persons. Additionally, the EPA issued guidance for how WOTUS should be interpreted in light of the Sackett decision. [Read press release here.]
*”Texas is running out of water.” The Texas Tribune published an article looking at the situation surrounding water in Texas and what lawmakers and agencies are doing to try and deal with the increased demand for water in the Lone Star state. [Read article here.]
*Court denied Tyson’s motion to dismiss in greenwashing case. A federal court denied Tyson’s motion to dismiss in Environmental Working Group v. Tyson Foods. EWG sued Tyson claiming their claims of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and statements related to their climate-smart beef program were fraudulent and misleading. The court denied the motion finding: (1) the District of Columbia has personal jurisdiction over Tyson because the claims at issue related to all products, including those sold in D.C.; (2) Plaintiffs stated a claim with allegations of a “fundamental mismatch between the minimal steps Tyson is taking and the actions that would be necessary to achieve its not-zero goal; (3) the First Amendment claim is valid because Plaintiffs allege Tyson’s commercial speech would reasonably mislead consumers. [Read Opinion here.]
* Gene Hackman death, will results in complex issues. Professor Gerry Beyer wrote an interesting blog post about the death and estate plan of Gene Hackman. Unlike many celebrities who died without a will, Mr. Hackman had one…but it left everything to his wife and nothing to his children. This gets tricky when we consider his wife died before Mr. Hackman, and her will said if Hackman did not outlive her by at least 90 days (which he did not), her entire estate would be placed into a charitable trust. [Read blog post here.] To listen to Professor Beyer and I discuss the outcome of other celebrity deaths, and play a game of “will or no will,” click here for a prior podcast episode.
*US Supreme Court rules for San Francisco in Clean Water Act case. The US Supreme Court sided with San Francisco in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA. Specifically, the court held that the Clean Water Act permit that the EPA gave to San Francisco was too vague. The permit instructed the city not to contribute to a violation in any applicable water quality standard when discharging pollutants into the Pacific Ocean. Because there was no guidance, steps, or instructions to the city for how to comply with this permit requirement, the court found it vague and remanded the case back to the lower court. [Read Opinion here.]
*Why early planning leads to succession success. Another great article on farm and ranch estate planning from my friend, Erin Herbold-Swalwell! Erin walks through ten reasons why early planning leads to successful succession on the farm. [Read article here.]
Upcoming Programs
We’re kicking off April with a bang. On April 1, I will be speaking at the Plains Cotton Growers Annual Meeting in Lubbock and at the Annie’s Project meeting in Plainview. On April 3, I will be in Stratford to speak at the District 1 TEEA meeting.
To find a complete list of my upcoming programs, click here!
