Poloitico highlighst no NRCS and understafed FSA in Eddy County NM

Woods note: The issue of NRCS and FSA made national news on polotico ag page. I included a lot this time because it all seem of interest to me. Subject: POLITICO's Morning Agriculture: Glyphosate gets EU renewal — Perdue's almost-empty sub-cabinet — USDA vacancies said to affect customer service By Christine Haughney | 11/28/2017 10:00 AM EDT With Catherine Boudreau, Jenny Hopkinson, Eric Wolff and Helena Bottemiller Evich GLYPHOSATE GETS EU RENEWAL: After more than two years of fierce political debate in Europe over whether glyphosate causes cancer, EU countries on Monday approved a five-year license renewal for the world's most commonly used herbicide. The vote was made possible by a last-minute U-turn from Germany, which gave the green light after months of abstaining on the issue. The EU vote, made by a food safety committee, came as a relief to farmers across Europe, who see the weedkiller as a vital tool. At the height of the debate, it often looked as if environmental campaigners would win the political battle by arguing that glyphosate was both carcinogenic and harmful to the soil. Looking ahead to December: The vote did not put to rest the debate in Europe, but it spared Monsanto, which markets glyphosate under the Roundup label, from a damaging regulatory decision shortly before an important hearing next month in federal court in San Francisco. Judge Vince Chhabria of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is scheduled to review all of the scientific evidence in a case in which U.S. farmers allege glyphosate gave them cancer. Chhabria will determine if there is enough proof that glyphosate causes cancer to warrant bringing the case to trial. Angry environmental groups: Monday's decision sparked an angry reaction from environmental groups, who have argued for years that policymakers should have paid closer attention to the assessment of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, which concluded that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen. Both the European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Agency, by contrast, determined the chemical is safe. Not so fast: Although glyphosate is now approved at the EU level, France reacted immediately with a declaration that it would move to ban the substance "as soon as alternatives have been found," and within three years. And Italy's Agriculture Minister, Maurizio Martina, told POLITICO the country would get rid of glyphosate within its borders by 2020. The vote flew in the face of a non-binding European Parliament resolution asking the European Commission to phase out glyphosate by 2022. HAPPY TUESDAY, NOV. 28! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host is giddy about next spring's nuptials between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Have any other engagement announcements, news tips or birthday shoutouts? Send them to chaughney@politico.com and @chaughney. Follow the team at @Morning_Ag. PERDUE'S ALMOST-EMPTY SUB-CABINET: Seven months after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue took office, USDA is still operating with little permanent leadership. Only four of more than a dozen Senate-confirmed positions have been filled, Perdue's included. Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky, Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney and Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach are all in place - but otherwise, Perdue's looking at a winter of discontent in his effort to get boots on the ground. There are only a few USDA nominees waiting for sign off, and the Senate has an extremely busy agenda over the two weeks it will be in session before the holidays. It could be a few months before final votes are taken on nominations for which selections have yet to be made. Who's still waiting? - Stephen Vaden: The nominee for general counsel has not cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee, and a markup has not been scheduled. The panel held a confirmation hearing on the former Jones Day attorney and USDA beachhead team member on Nov. 9. But his momentum has stalled since then. The Tennessee native has come under fire from Democrats for past work backing state voter ID laws, which some argue were designed to restrict voting access of blacks and other minorities. He's also run afoul of the union that represents USDA's lawyers. - Bill Northey: The administration's pick to head the newly created farm services and conservation mission area was expected to get a quick confirmation vote after the committee voted on Oct. 19 to send his nomination to the Senate floor. But since then, the three-term Iowa Agriculture Secretary has become a pawn in Sen. Ted Cruz 's efforts to get the Trump Administration to walk back its plans for the Renewable Fuel Standard. The agency faces a Thursday deadline to publish the blending requirements for biofuel in 2018 and 2019, and the meeting Cruz demanded to discuss changes to the program has not happened. How Cruz will handle things once the rule drops is an unanswered question. - Gregg Doud: He is awaiting a floor vote on his nomination to be USTR's chief agricultural negotiator, but he may not get anywhere soon. Sen. Jeff Flake put a hold on his nomination over the controversial seasonal produce proposal USTR put forward during the NAFTA 2.0 talks. His selection was announced on June 16. Senate Finance held a confirmation hearing on Oct. 5 and unanimously cleared him on Oct. 25. - Michael Dourson: The pick to head EPA's chemicals office - which oversees pesticides - has also hit some trouble. Dourson, a toxicologist, has for years consulted for companies seeking sign-off on their products, often pushing for legal limits far weaker than other scientists recommended. He's worked on chlorpyrifos and other organophosphates. Some GOP Senators are opposing him over his efforts to get EPA and states to set a weaker threshold for certain chemicals that have been linked to health problems. Republican North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr have said they won't vote to confirm him and Maine Sen. Susan Collins has indicated she may follow suit. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee signed off on Dourson on Oct. 25 in a party-line 11-10 vote. Which positions are vacant at USDA? - Four undersecretary posts: Picks have not been announced for natural resources and the environment; food, nutrition and consumer services; and food safety. And the post of undersecretary for research, education and economics is also open after Sam Clovis withdrew from consideration earlier this month. - Three assistant secretary posts: The administration also has not announced selections for the assistant secretaries for congressional relations, administration or civil rights. Same is true for the CFO post. USDA VACANCIES SAID TO AFFECT CUSTOMER SERVICE: There are thousands of open positions at the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency, and the Democratic members of New Mexico's congressional delegation want Perdue to fill them ASAP. The vacancies - 1,446 at NRCS and a like number at FSA - are harming the agencies' ability to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers, the lawmakers said in a letter to Perdue. Carlsbad, N.M., a city in an important agricultural part of the state, hasn't had any NRCS staff for nearly a year, the lawmakers said. Read their letter here. USDA's response: A spokesperson said the department is "already in the process of conducting workload assessments for our customer-facing agencies to ensure that USDA maintains its superior level of customer service." Hiring freeze? President Donald Trump instituted a hiring freeze across federal departments shortly after being inaugurated in January. It was lifted in April and replaced with a call to reduce government personnel. The New Mexico Democrats requested Perdue lift a hiring freeze at USDA, but the department spokesperson did not specifically respond to the accusation. Pros, more from Catherine Boudreau here. WELLS FARGO: INDEPENDENT REFINERS DOING FINE UNDER RFS: Independent refiners are making money on biofuels credits (called Renewable Identification Numbers) under the Renewable Fuel Standard, Wells Fargo said in a research note, Pro's Eric Wolff reports. "In what may be a surprise to some, most Independent Refiners now enjoy a net benefit from Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), based on our analysis," the bank said. "Consumers now bear the majority of RINs costs - like a tax." The analysis undercuts arguments from refiners who claimed high credit prices have been hurting their bottom lines. But it also supports the argument from big oil companies that consumers are paying the costs of the program. Ethanol backers say it depends on how you define a consumer. "The consumer in this case is the wholesale purchaser of gasoline blendstock - not the retail consumer," said Geoff Cooper, executive vice president for the Renewable Fuels Association. "The RIN cost is effectively erased when the gasoline blendstock is combined with ethanol (which comes with a RIN credit) to make the finished fuel (E10) that is sold at retail." ROW CROPS: - Daines opposes Senate tax bill: Senate Agriculture member Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Monday joined Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) as the only senators to publicly declare they would oppose the Senate's tax overhaul as written. They are demanding more generous tax treatment for so-called "pass-through" businesses. One potential obstacle for leadership evaporated Monday when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced he'd vote in favor. - Last-ditch changes to Senate tax plan: The Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to meet today to prepare the tax legislation for the floor. Leaders are planning for floor debate on Wednesday. In an effort to woo at least a half-dozen holdouts, Senate Republican leaders are trying to make late-game changes to the measure. POLITICO's Seung Min Kim, Colin Wilhelm, and Bernie Becker have more here. - Gutierrez saying goodbye to Washington: Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), a leading national voice on immigration reform, will not seek reelection and is expected to announce his decision on Tuesday morning, three Democratic sources with knowledge of the decision told POLITICO's Natasha Korecki. More here. - Analyzing impact of a NAFTA withdrawal: If Trump were to withdraw from NAFTA it could increase the U.S. trade deficit and slow the nation's economic growth, a new report from BMO Economics has found. Overall, it would probably reduce U.S. gross domestic product by 0.2 percent over the next five years. "On a regional basis, we view some of the border states and those with heavy agriculture exposure as the most vulnerable," said Doug Porter, chief economist for BMO Financial Group. Our Doug - Pro Trade's Doug Palmer - has more here. - Soda tax revenue down in Philly: The 1.5-cent-per-ounce sugary drink tax in Philadelphia pulled in $6.1 million in October, city officials said. The figures are still preliminary, but that appears to be a significant drop from September - which was the highest-collection month all year, at $7.4 million. More here. - GAO report gives update on FSMA produce Q response times: The FDA is still using its Technical Assistance Network (TAN) to respond to questions and concerns about its produce safety rule. On Monday, the GAO released an update on how the agency is doing in its responses: As of June, FDA had responded to 81 percent of all 5,291 questions submitted to the TAN, with a median response time of 16 business days. The response time, however, was slower for produce rule inquiries from businesses (48 days), a gap FDA officials said was due to the fact that questions were raised that the agency hadn't considered when it wrote the complex rule. More from GAO here. - China's tariff cuts boost U.S. dairy exports: Three years of "bridge-building" efforts on the part of the U.S. dairy industry resulted in cheese being included in a broader package of tariff cuts China announced last week, Pro Trade's Adam Behsudi reports. - Lobbying news: Aramark, the food services giant, hired Ernst & Young to lobby on tax reform, POLITICO Influence reports. - Grocery stores getting punitive with suppliers: Major U.S. grocers like Kroger are imposing fines to punish suppliers for delayed shipments that deprive them of sales, The Wall Street Journal reports. - After Maria, still no help? HuffPost revisits the farmers in Puerto Rico it spoke with right after Hurricane Maria. So far, no aid has arrived. THAT'S ALL FOR MA! See you again soon! In the meantime, drop your host and the rest of the team a line: cboudreau@politico.com and @ceboudreau; jhopkinson@politico.com and @jennyhops; hbottemiller@politico.com and @hbottemiller; chaughney@politico.com and @chaughney; jlauinger@politico.com and @jmlauinger; and pjoshi@politico.com and @pjoshiny. You can also follow @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Ag on Twitter. To view online: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-agriculture/2017/11/28/glyphosate-stays-in-the-eu-picture-032826 To change your alert settings, please go to https://secure.politico.com/settings ________________________________________