EPA says it will revise wetlands rule in line with Supreme Court decision
The Biden administration intends to update its “waters of the United States” regulation, which determines the upstream reach of anti-pollution laws, by Sept. 1, said the EPA on Wednesday. The revised WOTUS rule will reflect the recent Supreme Court decision that reduces federal protection of wetlands, it said.
Tropical forest losses worsen
Although global leaders agreed in 2021 to halve forest losses within a decade, 4.1 million hectares (15,830 square miles) of tropical primary forest were lost last year, said the World Resources Institute on Wednesday. “The trend is moving in the wrong direction,” said the environmental group.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
More soy, less corn: Traders say the USDA’s annual Acreage report, due Friday, will show that farmers sowed slightly more soybeans and a bit less corn than they had planned at the start of the planting season. The differences are small, just 300,000 acres out of a combined total of 179.6 million acres. (Ag Insider)
Food rescue app: MealConnect, Feeding America’s food rescue app, helped the group rescue 1.5 billion pounds of food in 2022 and accounted for 20 percent of the food distributed through food banks in the Feeding America network. (Food Bank News)
Canadians sow more wheat: Farmers planted 26.9 million acres of wheat in Canada, a 6.7 percent increase from last year, thanks to high prices and strong global demand, said Statistics Canada. (MarketWatch)
Delta crackdown: The Labor Department has recovered more than $505,000 in back wages for Black farmworkers in the Mississippi Delta from dozens of local employers who, it said, had committed “egregious violations” of the workers’ rights. (Department of Labor)
Troubled waters: Experts anticipate that California’s flagship groundwater management law will fall far short of its equity goals unless the state shifts course, according to a new report by a number of nonprofit groups. (Maven’s Notebook)
Aid for meat processors: On Thursday, during a trip to Iowa, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce “a major investment” by the USDA to expand meat and poultry processing capacity. (FERN’s Ag Insider)
Accountable in negligent death: Rafael Barajas, a Florida labor contractor, is facing more than $15,000 in penalties following the death of a young farmworker from heat illness. (Department of Labor)
