Last Thursday the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco removed the Environmental Protection Agency?s (EPA) registrations for three Dicamba herbicides. Those herbicides were Bayer?s Xtendimax, BASF?s Engenia, and Corteva?s FeXapan. Last night the EPA issued a cancellation rule which allows farmers who possessed the chemical before the June 3rd ruling to use the product by July 31st but canceled any new orders after June 3rd.
If you are asking why the EPA made the choice they did, you are not alone. To understand the choice, you need to understand the Federal legal system in the United States. To do that, you need a lawyer. So, I went out and found one.
Audio: Full Interview with Jeff Stein
Jeff Stein is the Program and News Director for Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network Affiliate KXEL in Waterloo/Cedar Rapids. He is also a practicing attorney. He is licensed to practice law in Iowa and the Federal Court system. Stein gives us some insight as to why the dicamba ruling came down from the 9th Circuit Court in the first place, and not a court in a more agricultural area. The term is called, ?forum shopping.?
Stein says at the point of last Thursday?s ruling, the EPA had their pick of a few options. However, by issuing the cancellation order, the EPA is ?insulating? the three producers of the products ruled upon.
This insulation can protect Bayer, BASF, and Corteva from further litigation if the Supreme Court was to rule against dicamba. By doing this cancellation order you stop production and sales as of June 3rd, until future Federal litigation settles.
Now, this does not mean this is over. Stein says there is the potential a lawsuit could be filed in a different district court to challenge EPA?s decision. This would then give conflicting rulings in different federal districts, which then increases the likelihood that the Supreme Court would get involved. The high court only takes up about three percent of cases each year, and conflicting rulings in different jurisdictions are the kind they like to take up.
Stein says that caution is the order of the day in this action by the EPA. He also reminds us that the 9th Circuit Court is the court that has historically been overturned the most by the U.S. Supreme Court.
