TURFGRASS INDUSTRY NEWS
“Congress did not grant EPA…the authority to devise emissions caps based on the generation shifting approach the Agency took in the Clean Power Plan,” the majority wrote, referring to an Obama-era power plant regulation. At issue in the case was language in the Clean Air Act that enables EPA to regulate power plants using a “best system of emissions reduction” and what specifically that system can entail. Te majority opinion, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, determined that the Obama administration’s use of a system that involved moving away from carbon-intensive coal plants and toward natural gas and renewables did not qualify. Roberts wrote that the plan, which involved regulating the power system as a whole instead of regulating individual plants, was an “unprecedented” view of the EPA’s authority that involved a “fundamental revision of the statute, changing it from [one sort of] scheme of . . . regulation” into an entirely different kind. In Tursday’s ruling, the court took a regulatory tool off the table for the Biden administration, which is currently working on its own power plant regulations. Te full post can be found at:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3542545- supreme-court-curbs-epas-climate-powers/?
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Bayer Bid to Nix Roundup Lawsuits According to a June 21 Reuters report, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Bayer AG's bid to dismiss legal claims by customers who contend its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer as the German company seeks to avoid potentially billions of dollars in damages. Te justices turned away a Bayer appeal and left in place a lower court decision that upheld $25 million in damages awarded to California resident Edwin Hardeman, a Roundup user who blamed his cancer on the pharmaceutical and chemical giant's glyphosate-based weedkillers. Te Supreme Court's action dealt a blow to Bayer as the company maneuvers to limit its legal liability in thousands of cases. Te justices have a second petition pending on a related issue that they could act upon in the coming weeks. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration in May urged the court not to hear the Bayer appeal, reversing the government's position previously taken under former President Donald Trump. Bayer has lost three trials in which Roundup users have been awarded tens of millions of dollars in each, while also winning four trials. Bayer had pinned hopes for relief on the conservative-majority Supreme Court, which has a reputation for being pro-business. Bayer said it "respectfully disagrees" with the court's decision and that the company is "fully prepared to manage the litigation risk associated with potential future claims in the U.S."
76
Bayer said in its March annual report that it had resolved about 107,000 cases out of about 138,000 cases overall. Bayer, which also makes aspirin, Yasmin birth-control pills, and the stroke prevention drug Xarelto among other products, has argued that the cancer claims over Roundup and glyphosate go against sound science and product clearance from the EPA. Te agency has upheld guidance that glyphosate is not carcinogenic and not a risk to public health when used as indicated on the label.
IA, CLCA, NALP Webinar Tackles California Water Restrictions According to a June 7 article in Irrigation & Lighting magazine, more than 600 people attended a June 6 webinar co-hosted by the Irrigation Association (IA), the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA), and the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), which broke down California’s new water restrictions enacted to combat the state’s ongoing drought. Te virtual event featured panelists Maureen Erbeznik, principal at Maureen Erbeznik and Associates, Los Angeles, and Peter Estournes, CWM, CLP, CLIA, vice president and principal of Gardenworks Inc., Healdsburg, California. Warren Gorowitz, CLIA, director of corporate social responsibility, Hunter Industries, San Marcos, California, served as the webinar’s moderator. Erbeznik highlighted the dire position California is in following extended, record-breaking drought and aridification. Te state receives much of its water from snowpack, but as temperatures continue to increase, the water is absorbing into the soil and evaporating at a higher rate. Couple this dryness with increased water use statewide, and California adds more pressure on its already low — and in Southern California, emergency-level — water supply. All California residents are being asked to voluntarily cut water use by 15 percent and are banned from watering nonfunctional turf in commercial, industrial, and institutional properties for one year, as of June 6. Tis watering ban does not impact single family homes. Exemptions to this ban include watering trees or turfgrasses with a plant factor of 0.3 or less, if non-potable water is used, and if watering is required for health and safety reasons. California’s more than 400 water agencies are responsible for enforcing these water restrictions in their designated areas, and restrictions vary by each retailer. You can watch the full webinar on the Irrigation Association’s YouTube channel at
youtu.be/YkgiBOf7-lo.
TPI Turf News September/October 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
