Page 55 - MNLGA Free State Winter 2023_WEB

https://cdn.ymaws.com/members.americanhort.org/ Senate Passes Three of 12 Funding Bills
resource/resmgr/content/advocacy/2023/AmericanHort- The Senate has passed three of its 12 government-funding
letter-christma.pdf bills, totaling $279.3 billion, in a bipartisan effort ahead of a

Craig Regelbrugge and Matt Mika November 17 deadline to avoid a shutdown. The package
includes Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-VA, and
Transportation-HUD measures. The Agriculture-FDA bill
allocates $26 billion, the Military Construction-VA bill
provides $154.4 billion, and the Transportation-HUD bill
allocates $98.9 billion. However, the Transportation-HUD
bill's $8 billion increase is offset by a decrease in Federal
Housing Administration receipts. The bills also include
amendments to prevent funding for mask mandates,
disclosing VA patient details, and blocking funding for
Chinese entities. The House has passed seven bills.
The House rejected a GOP-drafted Agriculture-FDA bill
due to additional cuts to USDA and other programs;
27 Republicans voted against the bill because it hurt
agricultural programs. Speaker Mike Johnson proposed a
working group to resolve differences. Military Construction-
VA bill passed without Democrats' support.
EPA Approves Strengthened Pesticide Safety Plans Matt Mika and Frida Mendez, DCLRS
for Certifying Applicators

The EPA announced the final approval of 67 updated
plans for certifying applicators of Restricted Use Pesticides
(RUPs). This announcement signifies that all areas of the
U.S. can continue certifying applicators of RUPs. The EPA
updated its Certification of Pesticide Applicators (CPA)
regulations in 2017, establishing stronger standards for
those applying RUPs. The 2017 CPA rule mandated RUP
applicators to submit revised plans to EPA for approval by
November 4, 2023, including minimum age restrictions,
noncertified applicator qualifications and supervisor
requirements, enhanced competency requirements, and
assessments. In these revisions of plans, a certification
is now required for aerial, fumigation, and predator
control RUPs. Additionally, certifications are now valid
for a maximum of five years, a change from the previous Craig J. Regelbrugge
practices where there was no federal limit. EPA has Executive Vice President of Advocacy, Research
approved five tribal plans, with one finalized. Applicators & Industry Relations at AmericanHort
certified under the tribe's plan will transition to EPA federal 202-789-8111
certification until revised. Once published in the Federal
Register notice, a list of the plans will be available in docket
EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0509 at www.regulations.gov. Copies of Matt Mika
the approved plans can be found at https://cpardpub.epa. Vice President, Advocacy & Government
gov/ords/cpardpub/f?p=154:1. Affairs
Frida Mendez, DCLRS

Membership Matters • WINTER 2023 55