Does not matter: Environmentalists gear up for another legal fight with Trump — Senators back USDA carbon certification effort

Jun 05, 2020

With help from Ryan McCrimmon and Sabrina Rodriguez

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Quick Fix

— President Donald Trump issued an executive order that would waive environmental laws to quickly green-light infrastructure projects, and environmentalists are preparing to bring it to the courts.

— Senators laid out how they think agriculture can be part of the solution to climate change. It starts with a new carbon certification program at USDA.

— Certain ag issues between the U.S. and Mexico remain unresolved as the date for USMCA implementation approaches next month.

HAPPY FRIDAY, JUNE 5! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host hopes MA readers are safe and well. Send story ideas to lcrampton@politico.com and @liz_crampton, and follow us @Morning_Ag.

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Driving the Day

ENVIRONMENTALISTS GEAR UP FOR LEGAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP ORDER: Trump's executive order that uses emergency powers to waive environmental laws and speed permitting of highways and energy projects in an attempt to stimulate the U.S. economy is bound to face a tense court battle, as Pro's Energy team reports.

The order, signed Thursday, instructs the Interior, Agriculture and Defense departments to use emergency and other authorities to accelerate projects on federal lands.

It's a bid by the Trump administration to stem economic losses from the pandemic. Another 1.9 million people filed for unemployment this week, bringing the total to nearly 43 since the public health crisis began. The president and lawmakers from both parties have sought to hike infrastructure spending in order to boost the struggling economy.

Environmental groups already began showing their cards on Thursday as they blasted the news. Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said it's "despicable that the Trump administration is exploiting the pandemic to cripple crucial protections against the pollution of our air, water and public lands."

Keeping score: Trump's order is just the latest action the administration has taken to eliminate bedrock environmental laws. It has sought to narrow protections under the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. On Monday, the EPA finalized a regulation to significantly rein in states' power to veto pipelines, coal export terminals and other infrastructure projects over their impact to water quality.

The big picture: The Trump administration's treatment of environmental issues have been widely criticized by green groups, which argue that officials have prioritized the interests of private industry. On the other hand, farmers have embraced Trump's approach to water rights on farms, such as rolling back the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. rule.

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SENATORS BACK USDA CARBON CERTIFICATION EFFORT: A bipartisan group of Senators on Thursday unveiled a bill that would create a new carbon certification program at USDA — and potentially position agriculture to play a key part in reversing the effects of climate change, our Helena Bottemiller Evich reports.

Here's what it would do: The program would make it easier for farmers and other landowners to participate in carbon markets. Third-parties would be able to become "USDA certified" as technical service providers or verifiers. It's aimed at improving transparency and creating more legitimacy and consistency as carbon sequestration initiatives emerge.

The bill, named the Growing Climate Solutions Act, is sponsored by Senate Ag members Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), as well as Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). It has broad support from major agriculture groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union and the Nature Conservancy.

FOOD BANKS LEFT WITH 'LAST MILE' DUTIES: The Agriculture Department on Thursday said more than 5 million food boxes have now been delivered under its $3 billion commodity purchase program, aimed at moving excess meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables from farms to food banks facing heavy demand amid the pandemic. But food banks around the country — most of whom are happy for the federal assistance — are also reporting higher costs and logistical hurdles that they didn't expect.

The program was billed as a "truck to trunk" effort, but food banks have been forced to fill gaps at the end of the supply chain, especially nonprofits receiving boxes from USDA contractors with less capacity or little experience in food distribution, Food Bank News reports.

Steven Kullberg, COO at Food Bank of the Rockies, said the company is spending more than $40,000 per month on rental vehicles, fuel, drivers and other workers to handle the extra demand. "I wish the government was paying for it like they originally indicated," Kullberg said of the "last mile" effort needed to move food boxes from warehouses to distribution sites.

Got milk? The Agriculture Department is paying premium prices for milk included in the food boxes, in some cases more than twice as much as what customers pay at the grocery store, translating to as much as $7 per gallon, the Counter reports.

Trade Corner

USMCA OR NOT, U.S.-MEXICO AG ISSUES BREWING: North American leaders are selling USMCA's entry into force on July 1 as a big win that will remove uncertainty in the region, but some agricultural issues between the U.S. and Mexico remain unresolved.

Southern growers keep pushing: Kenneth Smith Ramos, Mexico's former chief USMCA negotiator, said on Thursday that Southern growers and USTR are still discussing seasonal produce concerns.

Seasonal produce growers mainly in Florida and Georgia wanted special provisions in USMCA that would allow them to more easily petition for anti-dumping or countervailing duties on Mexico, but those were left out of the final deal. Still, they're pushing for an arrangement that will allow them to fight Mexican growers.

U.S. border inspections: Mexican officials have also expressed concern over talk of the U.S. doing more border inspections. Mexico agreed to more frequent inspections as part of a tomato suspension agreement, but Smith Ramos noted there's a push to extend that to other agricultural goods. Trump also recently suggested the U.S. should terminate any trade deal that allows live cattle to be imported, a move that would effectively invalidate USMCA.

Mexican regulatory rollback: "On the Mexican side, we've seen lately quite a bit of regulatory backtracking primarily by the Environment Ministry that could be problematic because they are suspending import permits for agricultural biotech products even though they are in compliance with Mexican law," Smith Ramos said at an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association.

Mexico's environment minister has also pushed to prohibit glyphosate imports, the controversial herbicide that's used to kill weeds. Ag groups in the U.S., however, want to keep up production of the herbicide, despite environmental and health concerns.

"Hopefully, those will be able to be cleared off the table and we won't have a dispute on ag because agriculture is by far one of the biggest success stories of our trade relationship," Smith Ramos said.

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Row Crops

— The Farm Bureau, in supporting the family of George Floyd and other victims of racial injustice, said it's forming a working group to determine how its staff "can be a positive influence against racism."

— USDA has approved $545 million in direct payments to farmers to account for losses due to the pandemic, our Ryan McCrimmon reports. More than 86,000 producers have already applied for assistance.

— U.S. exports and imports fell by record amounts in April, dropping 20.5 percent and 13.7 percent , respectively, reports Pro Trade's Doug Palmer. Doug also reports that U.S. exports to China this year through April were well below the pace needed to meet the goal set in Trump's phase one trade deal with China.

— House appropriators will hold subcommittee and full committee markups on fiscal 2021 spending bills during the weeks of July 6 and July 13, with floor votes as soon as the weeks of July 20 and July 27, reports Pro Budget's Caitlin Emma.

— Small cities and towns in rural areas join large cities in protesting police brutality, reports the Daily Yonder.

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