WASHINGTON DC (May 7, 2020) — US Secretary Sonny Perdue applauded the decision made by the District Court of Western Missouri on 6 May, which ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has the primary jurisdiction over worker’s safety in meat processing plants across the country during the COVID-19 national emergency.

WASHINGTON DC (May 4, 2020) — US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the US Department of Agriculture intends to make available up to $100 million in competitive grants for activities designed to expand the availability and sale of renewable fuels.

WASHINGTON DC (April 29, 2020) — The 2018 Farm Bill called for technological enhancements to improve the ability of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to oversee imported organic products. The electronic organic import certificates envisioned in The Farm Bill will provide critical organic import-data and make it easier to monitor organic-imports.

ANKENY, IOWA (April 28, 2020) — The Iowa Biodiesel Board today praised Representative Abby Finkenauer for introducing the Clean Fuels Deployment Act. The bill would appropriate $500 million over five years to encourage investment in infrastructure for accelerating the use of biofuels nationwide.

Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board and Iowa Soybean Association director of market development, issued the following statement:

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND (April 28, 2020) — Larger-than-expected beginning stocks and more harvested acres have placed organic corn and wheat on a bearish trend over the 2019/20 market year, according to the new Mercaris Organic Commodity Outlook. Meanwhile, strong demand and lower imports have provided support to organic soybeans markets.

WASHINGTON DC (April 20, 2020) — With input from the Board and the organic community, we are modifying the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Spring Meeting 2020 to be held live online, instead of in-person. This will allow the Board to move forward with deliberations as scheduled in an open and public setting. 

Four-day online meeting

WASHINGTON DC (April 20, 2020) — US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced on April 17 the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) program will take several actions to assist farmers, ranchers, and consumers in response to the COVID-19 national emergency.

LENEXA, KANSAS (April 16, 2020) — Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released “sector snapshots” for eight industries participating in the Smart Sectors Program. The sector snapshot is a web-based tool that shows historical environmental and economic performance on a sector basis. Users can interact with data that include a range of up to 30 different combinations of environmental and economic parameters to view trends over time.

LENEXA, KANSAS (April 16, 2020) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the availability of $2 million in grant funding for tribal applicants to establish diesel emission reduction projects. Under this grant competition, applicants may request up to $800,000 in federal funding.

LENEXA, KANSAS (April 15, 2020) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking grant applications through the Children's Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative from states, federally-recognized tribes, universities, local governments, non-profits, and other groups to support children’s environmental health in school and child-care settings. These grants advance children’s environmental health by providing education, training, tools, and capacity building.

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