Category Archives: Federal Regulations

September 15, 2017 Weekly Round Up

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It has been a bit of a crazy week around here and I apologize to anyone who has called or emailed and not gotten a quick response from me.  On Monday, my two year old landed in the hospital after fighting a nasty stomach virus for two weeks.  He is home and doing much better now, but as you can imagine, work got put on the back burner.  I am back in the saddle now and here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. *Number… Read More →

August 18, 2017 Weekly Round Up

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Last week I was in College Station to speak at the TAMU Beef Cattle Short Course.  Our session, titled “Ask an Ag Lawyer” featured Jim Bradbury, James Decker, Kyle Weldon, and myself and was quite a hit.  We recorded a podcast summarizing the session and sharing our favorite questions.  If you are interested in listing to that, click here.  A big thanks to Dr. Jason Cleere and his team for putting on such a wonderful event. Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this… Read More →

August 4, 2017 Weekly Round Up

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And just like that, it’s August!  Where has the summer gone? Here are some of the ag law stories making news this week. * Water war brewing in West Texas.  A rural West Texas landowner wants to drill wells, build a pipeline, and sell water to oil and gas companies some 60 miles away in the Permian Basin.  This is the situation in Van Horn, where a large landowner has sought a permit from the Culberson County Groundwater Conservation District to drill 7 wells on his 140,000 acre… Read More →

July 7, 2017 Weekly Round Up

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Amazingly enough, I stayed put here in Amarillo this week catching up on writing and podcast recording here at the office.  Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. * Arkansas will ban Dicamba use for 120 days.  Following an increase in the number of pesticide drift involving the application of Dicamba in Arkansas, the Arkansas State Plant Board voted to impose a 120-day ban on the application of the dicamba “Engenia” formation in the state.  In January 2017, Xtendimax dicamba technology was banned… Read More →

May 12, 2017 Weekly Round Up

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We’ve made it to Friday yet again!  Here are some of the legal issues in the news this week. * EPA seeks input from governors on revisions to WOTUS rule.  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sent a letter this week to the 50 state governors seeking input from them on the re-write of the WOTUS rule.  He noted the value and importance of local input when writing the new rule.  [Read article here.] * Federal judge dismisses legal challenge to North Carolina lawsuit over Property Protection Act.  A federal… Read More →

DC Circuit Court: Farms Must Report Air Emissions, Exemption Unlawful

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In April, a major decision came out of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the Waterkeeper Alliance v. Environmental Protection Agency case.  [Read the opinion here.]  Frankly, I’ve had to brush up on my federal environmental law in order to write this blog post, so forgive my delay in getting this up. Background Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (“EPCRA”), both federal environmental laws passed in the 1980’s, parties must notify the… Read More →

April 21, 2017 Weekly Round Up

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It has been quite a busy few weeks around here, I apologize for the lack of round up posts.  Towards the end of March, I did an online presentation for folks out in Culberson County and then made my way to two great conferences, the Four States Forage Conference in Texarkana and the Texas & Southwest Cattle Raisers Association Convention in San Antonio.  So far in April, I’ve been burning up the road and made trips to an extension program in Snyder and a wonderful inaugural Women in… Read More →

Round 2 in Hawkes v. Corps of Engineers Goes to Landowners

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The litigation continues for the parties involved in Hawkes v. US Army Corps of Engineers.  This Clean Water Act case made its way to the United States Supreme Court last year, where the Court held that a landowner has the right to challenge an approved jurisdictional determination by the government that his or her property was a “water of the United States,” and therefore, subject to the Clean Water Act.  [Read prior blog post explaining that decision here.] After that decision, the case was sent back to the trial… Read More →

Iowa Supreme Court Issues Ruling in Des Moines Water Works Case

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Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court issued a decision in a case concerning drainage from farmland upstream that allegedly increased nitrates in the Raccoon River beyond the acceptable drinking water level, causing the water supplier to incur costs of treatment.  In answering four state law questions certified to it, the Iowa Supreme Court sided with the drainage districts.  [Read full opinion here.] Background The Board of Water Works Trustees for the City of Des Moines Iowa (aka Des Moines Water Works and “DMWW”) is a municipal waterworks that… Read More →

Clean Water Act Webinar and Report

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Today, I’ve got a couple of resources for those of you interested in the Clean Water Act. First, the Congressional Research Service recently published a report titled “Evolution of the Meaning of ‘Waters of the United States’ in the Clean Water Act” that walks through the path that the term “waters of the US” has taken over the past several decades.  It is an interesting look at the history of the Act and the cases that have attempted to define the scope of federal jurisdiction in this area…. Read More →