{"id":3336,"date":"2015-08-28T01:26:39","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T06:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?p=3336"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:29:15","slug":"august-28-2015-weekly-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hard to believe we have reached the end of August! \u00a0Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week.<\/p>\n

* Waters of the United States: \u00a0Where Are We Now?<\/strong> \u00a0I recently wrote an article for Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing where things currently stand with the “Waters of the United States” controversy involving the EPA’s new rule defining the scope of the federal Clean Water Act. \u00a0To read the article, click here<\/a>. \u00a0Just yesterday, a North Dakota federal judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the new rule from going into effect today as scheduled, instead allowing the court time to review the record and evaluate the plaintiffs challenge to the rule. \u00a0Review order here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*<\/b> Old Wells Wreaking Havoc in Pecos County.\u00a0<\/strong> Old oil wells that were abandoned or given to landowners as water wells are causing major problems in Pecos County. \u00a0The wells are leaking brackish water from a deep underground aquifer onto the surface, causing concern over potential contamination of freshwater aquifers. \u00a0The Railroad Commission has a fund to help cover the costs of plugging abandoned wells, but because these wells were technically given to the landowners, those funds are not available for use. \u00a0The landowners claim the costs of plugging are simply too high for them to pay. \u00a0[Read article here.<\/a>]<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Motion to Dismiss Will Be Heard Today in Syngenta Corn Litigation.<\/strong>\u00a0 A Kansas federal judge will hear arguments on Syngenta’s motion to dismiss lawsuits filed against it by numerous parties related to China’s rejection of US corn shipments due to certain Syngenta GMO seeds being included, but not yet approved by Chinese authorities. \u00a0Importantly, this hearing involves the multi district litigation consolidated cases, not any cases that have been remanded back (or never removed from) state court. \u00a0For an overview of the plaintiffs’ claims, click here<\/a>. \u00a0A motion to dismiss challenges the legal sufficiency of a claim, meaning a court will basically ask “if all of the facts are as the plaintiffs have alleged, would they have a sufficient legal claim under the law. \u00a0If so, the motion to dismiss will be denied and the cases will proceed. \u00a0If not, the motion to dismiss will be granted and the case dismissed. \u00a0Here is a good article<\/a> on the status of the case.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension photo by Robert Burns<\/p><\/div>\n

* Professor Beyer Publishes 2015 Texas Legislative Estate Planning Update.<\/strong> \u00a0Famous Texas Tech law professor Gerry Beyer recently published an article outlining all changes made to estate planning law made by this year’s Texas Legislature. \u00a0Although many of the changes are minor, it is still a great article especially for attorneys, trustees, and others frequently involved in estate planning to take a look at and keep on file. \u00a0[View article here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hard to believe we have reached the end of August! \u00a0Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. * Waters of the United States: \u00a0Where Are We Now? \u00a0I recently wrote an article for Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing where things currently stand with the “Waters of the United States” controversy involving the EPA’s new rule defining the scope of the federal Clean Water Act. \u00a0To read the article, click here. \u00a0Just yesterday, a North Dakota federal judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the… Read More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2444,"featured_media":3339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8,44,6,4,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estate-planning","category-oil-and-gas-law","category-seed-law","category-water-law","category-weekly-round-up","category-wotus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAugust 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up - Texas Agriculture Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up - Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hard to believe we have reached the end of August! \u00a0Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. * Waters of the United States: \u00a0Where Are We Now? \u00a0I recently wrote an article for Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing where things currently stand with the “Waters of the United States” controversy involving the EPA’s new rule defining the scope of the federal Clean Water Act. \u00a0To read the article, click here. \u00a0Just yesterday, a North Dakota federal judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the... Read More →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/texasaglaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-28T06:26:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T20:29:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2015\/08\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1362\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tiffany.dowell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tiffdowell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tiffdowell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tiffany.dowell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tiffany.dowell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73\"},\"headline\":\"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-28T06:26:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T20:29:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":471,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Estate Planning\",\"Oil and Gas Law\",\"Seed Law\",\"Water Law\",\"Weekly Round Up\",\"WOTUS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/\",\"name\":\"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up - Texas Agriculture Law\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-28T06:26:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T20:29:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1362,\"caption\":\"Texas A&M Agrilife Extension photo by Robert Burns\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/28\\\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Agriculture Law\",\"description\":\"Teaching, Research, Extension and Service\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Texas Agriculture Law\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Texas Agriculture Law\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/texasaglaw\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/tiffdowell\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/tiffany-dowell-lashmet-0a718778\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73\",\"name\":\"tiffany.dowell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/author\\\/tiffany-dowell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up - Texas Agriculture Law","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up - Texas Agriculture Law","og_description":"Hard to believe we have reached the end of August! \u00a0Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. * Waters of the United States: \u00a0Where Are We Now? \u00a0I recently wrote an article for Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing where things currently stand with the “Waters of the United States” controversy involving the EPA’s new rule defining the scope of the federal Clean Water Act. \u00a0To read the article, click here. \u00a0Just yesterday, a North Dakota federal judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the... Read More →","og_url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/","og_site_name":"Texas Agriculture Law","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/texasaglaw","article_published_time":"2015-08-28T06:26:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-17T20:29:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1362,"url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2015\/08\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tiffany.dowell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tiffdowell","twitter_site":"@tiffdowell","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tiffany.dowell","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/"},"author":{"name":"tiffany.dowell","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/person\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73"},"headline":"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up","datePublished":"2015-08-28T06:26:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T20:29:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/"},"wordCount":471,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2015\/08\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg","articleSection":["Estate Planning","Oil and Gas Law","Seed Law","Water Law","Weekly Round Up","WOTUS"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/","name":"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up - Texas Agriculture Law","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2015\/08\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg","datePublished":"2015-08-28T06:26:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T20:29:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2015\/08\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2015\/08\/7726392596_017a069219_k.jpg","width":2048,"height":1362,"caption":"Texas A&M Agrilife Extension photo by Robert Burns"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2015\/08\/28\/august-28-2015-weekly-round-up\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"August 28, 2015 Weekly Round Up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/","name":"Texas Agriculture Law","description":"Teaching, Research, Extension and Service","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#organization","name":"Texas Agriculture Law","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2023\/12\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2023\/12\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Texas Agriculture Law"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/texasaglaw","https:\/\/x.com\/tiffdowell","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tiffany-dowell-lashmet-0a718778\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/person\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73","name":"tiffany.dowell","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/author\/tiffany-dowell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}