"Supreme Court Denies 3 High-Profile Environmental Cases"

"In its first set of orders since returning from a monthlong recess, the Supreme Court declined yesterday to consider three separate industry challenges to federal environmental regulations.

Environmentalists hailed the court's decision not to review a year-old ruling requiring farmers to secure Clean Water Act approval for the use of pesticides already permitted under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. U.S. EPA is now reviewing the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System to devise a permitting system that complies with the ruling.

While the agency had claimed that FIFRA approval incorporated compliance with the Clean Water Act, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the government was obligated to ensure that farmers using pesticides were subject to both regulations. The appeals court agreed to stay the decision for two years, until April 2011, while EPA revises its permitting process."

Gabriel Nelson reports for Greenwire February 23, 2010.