Digest highlights

• USDA announces second round of PMVAP payments
• $100 million Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program announced
• WOTUS lawsuit filed
• IDFA adds economist, policy support
• USDA updates organic enforcement rule
• 2025-30 Dietary Guideline Advisory Committee named
• USDA seeks comment on proposed animal disease traceability regulations
• Animal welfare group wants increased regulation of ‘custom-exempt’ slaughter operations
• Other news, briefly

The Biden administration issued a water law reversal on the last working day of 2022, creating further change in the longstanding issue of how to define navigable waters of the U.S., including streams, runoff and ponds used in agriculture.

Controversy has surrounded Clean Water Act regulatory efforts for decades.

The Biden administration issued a water law reversal on the last working day of the year, thus creating more uncertainty in the longstanding issue of how to define navigable waters of the U.S., including streams, runoff and ponds used in agriculture.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) issued the following statement regarding the EPA’s and U.S. Department of the Army’s announcement of a final rule on "waters of the U.S." (WOTUS).

On Dec. 30, 2022, the EPA and Department of the Army (the agencies) announced a final rule founded upon the pre-2015 definition of “waters of the U.S." (WOTUS), updated to reflect consideration of Supreme Court decisions, the science and the agencies’ technical expertise.