NPDES General Permits Now Available for Point Source Discharges to Waters of the Commonwealth from Application of Pesticides

In today's Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published notice of the availability, as of 12:00am Oct. 29, 2011, of National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permits for Point Source Discharges to Waters of the Commonwealth from Application of Pesticides (PAG-15).  The permit is intended for operators who discharge into the Waters of the Commonwealth and are applying biological pesticides or residue-leaving chemical pesticides for:

(1) Mosquito and other flying insect pest control;
(2) Weed and algae pest control;
(3) Animal pest control; or
(4) Forest Canopy pest control

A draft of PAG-15 was published in the PA Bulletin on Dec. 25, 2010 and provided a 30-day public comment period (Prepared Comment and Response Document available here). Modifications made to the final PAG-15 included a clarification that operators seeking to use algaecide, herbicide, or fish control chemicals in the Waters of the Commonwealth must continue to obtain joint approval from Fish and Boat Commission and DEP's Safe Drinking Water Program. This joint approval is required even if the discharge will not reach threshold levels requiring submission of a Notice of Intent.

Read the complete PA Bulletin Notice here.

Read the DEP's PAG-15 Fact Sheet here.

Access the PAG-15 Folder of Documents on DEP's Web site here.

Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant

New Insurance Opportunity for Pennsylvania Swine Producers

Between today and tomorrow, Oct. 28-29, Pennsylvania swine producers will have their first-ever opportunity to enroll in Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) insurance. The LGM insurance will protect swine producers against unexpected declines in the gross margin, or market value in both commercial and private sales-for-slaughter, minus feed costs. This type of risk management has never before been available to Pennsylvania's swine producers, and the aim is to assist producers in remaining viable through difficult economic times.

Under LGM insurance, producers will receive loss payments when actual margins fall below expected margins. The market and actual values of swine (minus feed costs), using the Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures and actual prices, will determine the expected and actual margin values.

Read the PA Dept. of Agriculture Press Release here.

Access a list of crop insurance agents licensed for this program here.

Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant

FDA Announces First Seizure of Food Administratively Detained Under Food Safety Modernization Act

On October 11, 2011, the FDA announced its first seizure of food product subject to the administrative detention allowance under the new Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FSMA, which amends the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, lowers the FDA's threshold to exercise administrative detention of food products. Before the amendment, credible evidence that food posed a threat of death or serious health consequences, to humans or animals, was needed prior to detention.  Now, the FDA needs only a "reason to believe" the food is adulterated or misbranded.

During an inspection of Dominguez Foods of Washington, Inc, on Sept. 2, 2011, the FDA issued its detention order upon detecting evidence of a rodent and insect infestation in the facility's warehouse and processing area. The detention order was issued for all food in the facility not hermetically sealed in containers by the close of the inspection. On Sept. 30, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals seized the product from the facility in Zillah, Washington.

Read the full FDA Press Release here.

Read more about the FSMA here.

Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant