epa

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says the uncontrolled spread of small amounts of radioactive waste at Hanford after a Nov. 17 windstorm is alarming. The winds pushed specks of contamination beyond Route 4, the public highway from Richland out to the Wye Barricade entrance to Hanford. The...

The EPA is close to appointing an agriculture panel within its Scientific Advisory Board, as required by the 2014 farm bill, to review EPA actions that could negatively affect agriculture, though lawmakers are less than impressed that the action has taken this long...

The majority of beef producers say they approve of the Beef Checkoff Program. A recent survey found three out of four producers, or 76 percent, support the checkoff. The random survey of 1,200 beef and dairy producers nationwide was conducted by an independent firm in late December 2015 and early January 2016...

Monsanto is taking legal action to prevent what the company calls a flawed listing of the herbicide glyphosate under California’s Proposition 65. Prop 65 requires the state to maintain a “list of chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer...

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture is pleased with new funding levels for the Food Safety Modernization Act, though it remains concerned that the money stays available amid turnovers on Capitol Hill and in the White House...

Beekeepers have filed a lawsuit against the EPA for not regulating seeds treated with neonicotinoids. The group of commercial beekeepers, growers and environmental activist claim neonics should be regulated as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act...

A coalition last week filed a petition in a U.S appeals court to review the Renewable Fuel Standard. The groups are asking the courts to review the EPA’s RFS volumes for 2014, 2015 and 2016, announced last year after the EPA proposed significant drops in the volumes...

The updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been released. The guidelines, according to USDA, encourage Americans to adopt a series of science-based recommendations to improve how they eat to reduce obesity and prevent chronic diseases...

The Food and Drug Administration has extended the comment period for a proposal that would address the use of the term “natural” on food labels. The agency is now taking comments until May 10th of 2016. When FDA proposed the rule in November, it was asking for comment on whether it’s appropriate to define the term “natural;” if the agency should define the term; and how the agency should determine

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is reaching out to beekeepers and farmers across the nation this month and next to gather information on the number and health of honey bee colonies, honey production and stocks, and the cost to farmers of pollination services...