Industry groups and seven states lose bid to reinstate rule limiting scope of Clean Water Act - Courthouse News Service – December 7 - Seven states and a collection of industry groups fighting to revive a Trump-era...more
A Ninth Circuit panel recently affirmed dismissal of a putative consumer class action alleging Trader Joe’s misleadingly labeled its store brand honey as “100% New Zealand Manuka Honey,” where plaintiffs’ pollen content...more
EPA has been a hive of activity regarding the declining bee population. The agency recently approved an organic fungicide that is to be delivered to crops via “bee vectoring”—a process by which commercially-reared bees walk...more
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - USDA Receives Hundreds Of Comments On Hemp Interim Rule - Two weeks after opening a comment period on an interim final rule on hemp farming, the U.S. Department of Agriculture...more
Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It’s the second time that the Court has rejected the FWS...more
On June 12, 2019, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted 3-1 that listing four subspecies of bumble bee may be warranted under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).? ...more
Agriculture - CITIZEN TIMES: U.S., Western North Carolina lost farms in latest Census of Agriculture report The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week the results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture, and there's...more
As demand for commercial bees used to pollinate crops (such as almond trees) has grown, so has the demand for facilities to store bees. Entering a lease agreement for the storage of live bees presents some unique issues the...more
In Canada, pesticides are regulated by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (the "PMRA") on behalf of the Minister of Health and under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act (the "PCPA"). Health Canada...more
On August 21, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was posting new frequently asked questions (FAQ) for registrants and contract laboratories conducting honeybee toxicity testing....more
On September 19, 2017, California’s Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District reversed a trial court decision denying a petition by the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) challenging the approval by the...more
In a published opinion filed September 19, 2017, the First District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s denial of a writ petition challenging defendant California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (“Department”)...more
On November 23, 2016, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) issued a press release on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, along with a Proposed Re-evaluation Decision of the neonicotinoid pesticide, imidacloprid, and...more
To qualify as a trade secret under either the UTSA or the DTSA, the information in question must not be “readily ascertainable” through “proper means.” But what does “readily ascertainable” mean? If information is...more
On August 29, 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a study on the result of land-use changes on North and South Dakota commercial honey bee colonies in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences....more
On July 6, 2016, the David Suzuki Foundation, along with Friends of the Earth Canada, Ontario Nature, and Wilderness Committee, brought two judicial review applications against the Minister of Health and registrants of the...more
On January 22, 2016, Ontario released for consultation a draft Health Action Plan (Plan) to reduce losses of honeybees and other pollinators caused by several “stressors” stated in the Plan to include: (1) reduced habitat and...more
On November 12, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final cancellation order for all previously registered pesticide products containing the active ingredient sulfoxaflor, pursuant to Federal...more
EPA Releases TSCA Assessment Documents For Flame Retardant Chemicals: On August 18, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released for public comment three Problem Formulation and Initial Assessment documents...more
In a major victory for beekeepers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has vacated the EPA’s approval of the pesticide sulfoxaflor, concluding that the approval was based on “flawed and limited data” regarding...more
In an opinion issued on September 10, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) unconditional registration for the pesticide sulfoxaflor and remanded the...more
Last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s finding that federal law preempts California law to the extent California law prohibits de-pollinated honey from being labeled and sold as “honey.” ...more
EPA Denies Petition To Ban Triclosan: On May 13, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition submitted in January 2010 by Food & Water Watch and Beyond Pesticides seeking to ban triclosan, an...more
On May 22, 2015, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a call for new scientific information relevant to the evaluation of the risk to bees in the European Union (EU) from the use of the three neonicotinoid...more
As a once and future beekeeper, I’m bemused by the California legislature’s inept efforts to legislate apiculture. Section 29414 of the California Food & Agricultural Code, for example, defines “honeybees” as...more