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The amount of less productive land in a water district receiving Bureau of Reclamation water (Classes 2, 3, and 4) that would be necessary to be equivalent in productive potential to Class I land. This equivalency rating is made to adjust the number of acres that may be irrigated (see acreage limitation) so that less productive lands are equivalent in productive potential to 960 acres of Class I land.
Industry:Agriculture
Under reclamation law, Class I land is defined as irrigable land within a particular agricultural economic setting that is productive enough to yield the highest level of suitability for continuous, successful irrigation farming, and has the highest relative productive potential as measured in net income per acre.
Industry:Agriculture
Any railroad with annual gross revenues of at least $250 million (in 1991), according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. These are the largest long-distance U.S. railroad systems such as Union Pacific-Southern Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, which own most of the track in the United States. Since passage of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, aimed at deregulating the once highly-regulated industry to make it more efficient and cost-competitive, the number of Class I railroads has declined through consolidations and mergers, from more than 30, to eight in 1998. This consolidation has concerned many agricultural shippers — particularly those who lack access to nearby markets or to water transportation — fearful of higher prices due to lack of competition.
Industry:Agriculture
The pricing system of federal milk marketing orders, under which milk processors pay into a pool for fluid grade (Grade A) milk; its value is based on how the milk ultimately is used. Milk used for fluid (Class I) consumption receives a higher price than milk for processed (Class II, Class III, Class IIIa) dairy products.
Industry:Agriculture
A 1914 law that supplemented the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 by clarifying market activities (including those in agriculture) considered to be monopolistic or trade-restraining. The Capper-Volstead Act later exempted agricultural cooperatives from certain Clayton and Sherman Act provisions.
Industry:Agriculture
The primary federal law governing efforts to control air pollution. Federal legislation addressing air pollution was first adopted in 1955 (Air Pollution Control Act, P.L. 84-159) to provide research and technical assistance. Subsequent amendments, most notably the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 91-604), 1977 (P.L. 95-95), and 1990 (P.L. 101-549), strengthened the federal role. The Clean Air Act seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions that pollute the air. The Environmental Protection Agency is required to establish minimum National Standards Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), while states are assigned primary responsibility for developing compliance. Areas not meeting the standards (nonattainment areas) are required to implement specific control measures. There is no direct federal regulation of agriculture under the Clean Air Act. Two of the NAAQS (for particulates and ozone) could affect agriculture: particulates, because certain agricultural practices, such as prescribed burning and tilling, create airborne particles that might be targeted for control in State Implementation Plans; and ozone, because concentrations of ozone above the standard can adversely affect crop yields. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (from manufacturing, transportation, and utilities) react in the presence of sunlight (agriculture rarely if ever represents significant sources of ozone precursors).
Industry:Agriculture
Refers collectively to the main federal law for protecting water quality (33 U.S.C. §§1251 to 1387). This is the principal law governing pollution of the nation’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters. Originally enacted in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P.L. 80-845), it was totally revised by amendments in 1972 that gave the Act its current name and shape (P.L. 92-500). The objective of the Act is the restoration and maintenance of the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. The Act is implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with state and local governments. Programs in the Act have been primarily directed at managing point source pollution (wastes discharged from industrial facilities, sewage treatment plants, and municipal storm sewer systems). Agricultural activities have been less of a focus, but some may be affected by the Clean Water Act. The act established the NPDES system for pollution permits and the nonpoint source provisions of §§208 and 319 which deal with agricultural runoff. Large confined animal feeding operations are treated like industrial sources and are subject to permit requirements. Programs to manage nonpoint source pollution (rainfall runoff from farms, rangelands, forests, etc.) may affect agriculture. However, irrigation return flows are specifically exempt from regulation. A program in the Act that regulates discharges of dredged and fill material into wetlands (Section 404) requires permits for activities on agricultural wetlands.
Industry:Agriculture
This Act is P.L. 92-583 (October 27, 1972) which created the Coastal Zone Management Program in 1972 to provide grants to eligible states and territories as an incentive to prepare and implement plans guiding the use of coastal lands and resources. Amendments in 1990 require participants to develop nonpoint pollution programs. These programs must specify and implement management measures to restore and protect coastal waters. For agriculture, management measures are specified for erosion, sediments, nutrients, pesticides, grazing, and animal waste. Participants must implement these management measures after they have been approved by whatever means necessary, including regulation. Federal approval of state proposals is pending.
Industry:Agriculture
The codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the federal government. The Code is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to regulation. Most regulations directly related to agriculture are in title 7. Each title is divided into chapters that usually bear the name of the issuing agency, followed by subdivisions into parts covering specific regulatory areas. For example, 7 CFR 1410 are the regulations that apply to the Conservation Reserve Program.
Industry:Agriculture
A joint commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization, comprised of some 146 member countries, created in 1962 to ensure consumer food safety, establish fair practices in food trade, and promote the development of international food standards. The Commission drafts nonbinding standards for food additives, veterinary drugs, pesticide residues, and other substances that affect consumer food safety. It publishes these standards in a listing called the "Codex Alimentarius."
Industry:Agriculture
