McCarthy Statement on Passage of the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011

Statement

Congressman Kevin McCarthy issued the following statement on the passage of H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011:

"This bipartisan legislation is an example of Congress working to prevent duplicative and burdensome EPA regulations from being implemented and potentially harming our local economy. Had these EPA regulations gone into effect, farmers, ranchers, and other responsible pesticide users in San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties would have been saddled with costly new and duplicative permitting requirements; resulting in the loss of jobs in our community. I will continue to fight for common sense policies that cut unnecessary red tape and eliminate excessive regulations that stand in the way of job creation and economic growth."

H.R. 872 reverses a 2009 court ruling that would have required pesticide users, including mosquito control districts, water districts, pesticide applicators, farmers, ranchers and every day citizens, to acquire a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit from the EPA when applying pesticides. The long-standing interpretation of current law has been that the permitting process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act was sufficient for pesticide users and that additional CWA permits were not necessary.

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