Time is running out for Congress to ensure farmers and ranchers are not subject to redundant pesticide permitting requirements. Monday (October 31) is the deadline for EPA to implement new pesticide permits – and with the U.S. Senate in recess – House Ag Committee Chair Frank Lucas says there is really no time to pass a legislative fix. As a result – he says business owners, farmers and ranchers across the country will soon be tied up in another layer of red tape – hindering their ability to do business.

The U.S. House passed the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act in an effort to prevent what Lucas calls an unnecessary burden on Ameriac’s businesses. He says the measure is necessary due to a misguided court order released in 2009. Lucas says the determination that EPA must issue permits for pesticide use near waterways was made despite the fact that pesticide use is already heavily regulated under a federal statute.

But the U.S. Senate has not acted on this measure. Despite strong bipartisan support – Lucas says Majority Leader Harry Reid has refused to bring the legislation to the Senate for a vote. He says the cost of the Senate’s inaction is significant.