Soil & Mulch Producer News May/Jun 2019 by Downing and Associates

Vol. XIII No. 3

May /June 2019

Serving Soil, Mulch, Compost & Wood Pellet Producers www.SoilandMulchProducerNews.com

NEWS

The Mulch & Soil Council — Serving Mulch & Soil Producers Since 1972

he Mulch & Soil Council was founded in 1972 as the National Bark Producers Association (NBPA). The association was established after a group of manufacturers banded together to fight the immediate threat created by the Clean Air Act that banned tepee burners for wood waste. Then, in 1987, the NBPA was approached by a group of soil producers for help with regulations on package labeling. It was then that the NBPA evolved into the National Bark & Soil Producers Association (NBSPA). Finally, in 2001, the NBSPA became the Mulch & Soil Council with the adoption of Uniform Voluntary Product Standards and introduction of the first national product certification program for the industry. Since day one, the mission of the Council has been to define product quality and promote a fair and open marketplace. Although mulch products are generally unregulated, they constantly fall under regulatory attack, mostly as an unintended consequence of other government efforts. So, MSC works to create or change laws that assures our industry’s right to do business without unfair regulatory burden.

Not All Regulations Are Bad

he Council is not opposed to regulations that help improve the marketplace. A perfect example are the weights & measures laws that promote fair competition among manufacturers. For example: by 1995 industry competition had become so cutthroat that manufacturers couldn’t compete fairly. Too many competitors were short-packing bags to cut freight and sell products below market value. In 1996, the MSC requested the National Institutes on Standards & Technology (NIST) coordinate with states for an industry-wide product inspection. Over 16 states checked the net contents of production lots containing hundreds of thousands of market samples

By Robert C. LaGasse, MSC Executive Director

over a 3-week period and found 80% of every lot inspected failed for short-packing. Heightened enforcement over the next several years, combined with a series of training programs conducted by the Council, gave a different result in 1998. Just 2 years after 80% of inspected products failed, only 20% failed, and no company that participated in plant manager training programs conducted by the Council failed. MSC’s history of effective industry representation has made it the leading advisor to federal and state governments on mulch and soil products. MSC has worked with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to clarify the exclusion of Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) from mulch products and debunking environmental claims that harvesting for mulch was destroying cypress forests in the U.S. MSC produced a report from USFS data that showed new growth exceeded mortalities and harvests for cypress by as much as 600% in most of the 7 coastal Atlantic and Gulf states. While false claims continue, they are a faint echo of the past. The CCA and cypress challenges may have been more than many associations experienced

in their entire existence, but is barely a start for the MSC. In its infinite wisdom, the 2008 USDA Farm Bill (passed in 2010) decided to promote energy generation that was unsustainable in the open market; so, they funded massive subsidies to move renewable biomass (intended to be switchgrass) to energy producers under the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). At the last minute, forest products were added to the definition of biomass (in November of that year). Then in December, members called reporting that supply contracts were being broken so landowners could get 3x market subsidies. The $74 million BCAP legislation spent $240 million in just 6 months mostly diverting raw materials from mulch producers, even though the law prevented redirecting biomass materials from existing uses. The MSC met with USDA officials in January who told us clearly, “All subsidies hurt someone, so you just need to get used to it.” The BCAP program was actually launched under a pre-authorization that required final approval. The Council began educating the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on Continued on page 3

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The Mulch & Soil Council — Serving Mulch & Soil Producers Since 1972

Continued from page 1

the unintended consequences of not enforcing the prior use exemption. MSC also launched an education campaign informing its members what was happening, why raw materials were disappearing and how to respond. In November BCAP’s pre-authorization met with only 400 public comments, which was mostly support from energy companies. In March its final authorization met with more than 28,000 comments from MSC members and industry stakeholders the Council worked with to force USDA to properly enforce the prior market use exclusion for forest products. Although the misapplication of the rules was stopped, the BCAP structure is still in place and a simple redefinition of prior uses could restart a major subsidized invasion on wood fiber materials that would decimate existing manufacturing industries. In 2014, MSC received complaints of unusual weights & measures enforcement. Some states were passing what other states failed; so, members sent their state inspection reports to the Council, and we noted from their

data that the states were not all following the same test procedures. The rules existed in NIST Handbook 133, but were originally intended to be supported by NIST training programs. With budget cuts, states were not sending people for training, and the general handbook testing guidelines were being interpreted very differently by some major market states. MSC worked with NIST to clarify Handbook 133 test protocols for uniform testing across all states, but it takes a majority vote of the states to change the handbook. It took 3 years to meet with states to adopt the handbook clarifications, and then another year to train the industry to follow the updated protocols. Those are just a few of the continuous legislative and regulatory threats the mulch and soil industry faces. MSC also monitors the development of laws and regulations in all 50 states to provide an early warning system for members to respond to issues that might help or hurt their businesses. Weekly reports are available to members during the state legislative sessions.

Some Problems Are Market Issues

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PUBLICATION STAFF Publisher / Editor Rick Downing Contributing Editors / Writers Bonner R. Cohen • Robert C. LaGasse Sandy Woodthorpe Production & Layout Barb Fontanelle • Christine Mantush Advertising Sales Rick Downing Subscription / Circulation Donna Downing Editorial, Circulation & Advertising Office 6075 Hopkins Road, Mentor, OH 44060 Ph: 440-257-6453 • Fax: 440-257-6459 Email: downassoc2@oh.rr.com Subscription information, call 440-257-6453. Soil & Mulch Producer News is published bimonthly by Downing & Associates. Reproductions or transmission in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is prohibited. Annual subscription rate U.S. is $19.95. Outside of the U.S. add $10 ($29.95). Contact our main office, or mail-in the subscription form with payment. ©

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ost company owners don’t have the time and resources to monitor the entire industry while running their business. As mentioned earlier, a key reason why industries band together, besides unfair laws, and regulations can be unfair or anti-competitive industry practices. Not only is “how much” was being put in a bag an issue, but also “what” is being put in a bag. Beyond the laws requiring full volume and excluding CCA, there was a lot of room for unethical manufacturers to deceive retailers and the public, so the first part of the Council’s mission, defining quality products, was addressed. Given today’s consumer demand for product transparency, this issue is just as important to maintaining the industry’s future as regulatory action. Starting around 1997, the MSC saw the need to develop industry consensus on product guidelines. Defining the highly regional nature of mulches and soils was not an easy task, and took more than 5 years to come to an industry-wide acceptance. In the end, the industry adopted the Uniform Voluntary Product Guidelines for Horticultural Mulches, Consumer Potting Soils and Commercial Growing Media (UVPG), which contains: (1) A Statement of Purpose & History, (2) Product Categories, (3) General Product Labeling Guidelines, (4) Glossary of Terms, and (5) Uniform Testing Protocols. Having industry-accepted standards makes it much easier for legislators and regulators to recognize the “official” nature of an organization; so, the UVPG was a huge step in bringing formal

recognition to the industry and the Council. But that was not enough. How would standards benefit the retailers and consumers who wanted to know which products conform, without a means to link the standards to a product?

National Voluntary Product Certification

ince 2003, the MSC has conducted a national voluntary product certification program to a retailers, regulators and consumers in determining what products conform to industry guidelines. The voluntary standards are not voluntary for certified products, they are mandatory. The program revolves around a registered Certification Logomark licensed by manufacturers for on-bag display for products that undergo MSC label review followed by laboratory testing and periodic field inspection to certify compliance with industry standards. The role of the MSC certification is to protect consumers by identifying and correcting any product or labeling issues before regulators are called in. It is also the best way to protect a quality manufacture’s business from false media or competitor claims of product issues covered by industry standards. While certification applies only to bagged products, where chain of custody can be traced back to a specific manufacturing facility, the same cannot be done for bulk loads. But there is definitely a need to differentiate legitimate producers from fly-by-night operators, so the MSC created the Elite Bulk Membership. Elite Bulk Members undergo a complete, detailed review to verify business and other licenses, to establish they follow good business practices and safety programs, and to document that the company is a legitimate operator with the capacity to produce excellent product. These are the industry issues that, combined with its legislative/regulatory activities, form the heart of MSC’s 48 years of continuous service to the industry and its members. We have overcome numerous past obstacles not mentioned here, and there are doubtless untold future obstacles ahead. We cannot do everything for everyone; so, we focus on what we can do for members.

Keeping Members Informed

eptember 24-26, 2019, MSC will host its 48th Annual Membership Meeting in San Antonio, TX. This event is for the owners, key management and top sales people of member companies who spend an estimated $200 million annually on equipment and another $60 million on colorants. If you are an industry supplier, these are the top people you need to meet in this industry — Continued on page 4

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The Mulch & Soil Council — Serving Mulch & Soil Producers Since 1972 Continued from page 3

all in one place at one time. If you are a mulch and soil producer, this is where the best of the industry share information, make co-packer deals, get regulatory updates, share best practices, vote on industry issues, get business inspiration, learn new technologies and meet new vendors. Non-members are welcomed to attend the MSC annual meeting at member rates — once. For plant managers, the Council conducts special training programs on issues like quality control, checking net contents, product variability, product labeling, bulk load metrics, best management practices and more. Between events the Council keeps members up to date on industry issues via the News, Notes & Quotes Newsletter. NO, you cannot get this information on Facebook and Twitter because this is: • News affecting you and your business • News you don’t have time to find • Deep news connections whose impact is not always obvious • Industry survey reports (how do you compare?) • Intra-industry Competitor news that may impact you (competitor expansions, acquisitions, bankruptcies, collaborations) • Outside-competitor news: • New businesses/industries competing for your raw materials • New competition for transportation in your area • Who is driving up prices on packaging materials

We Are Always One Headline From Disaster

SC can’t control when media stories incite the public or other emergencies happen, but we can react to situations that demand immediate attention. Just for members, the Council issues special industry reports and bulletins giving our members a jump on the competition and saving time and money responding to key issues. MSC’s Mulch & Soil Research Foundation is called to action to fill vital information gaps with factual information such as:

After Hurricane Katrina, media claimed that downed trees containing termites were being transported from LA. The MSRF commissioned a report from Kansas State Extension to correct the media misinformation about termites in mulch. When environmental groups in the southeast U.S. claimed cypress forests were being destroyed to produce mulch, the MSRF commissioned a study of USFS data showing that was not only false but growth exceeded mortalities and harvests by over 600% in many of the coastal states in question. Over the past several years, local fire marshals have falsely claimed that mulch and potting soil in garden and landscape applications will spontaneously combust. These irresponsible claims represent a significant product liability threat to the industry, so MSRF commissioned a study by the fire research department at the $600 million a year Southwest Research Institute that completely debunks that claim. When California Proposition 65 expanded its labeling requirement in 2018, the MSRF commissioned a special to help identify what products do not need to place a proposition 65 label on the packages.

Service Keeps Us Relevant

he Mulch & Soil Council has dedicated its first 48 years to solving industry problems and providing critical, pocketbook services to its members. So long as we can identify and address future issues that are important to our members, we expect to continue in service to the industry, and we invite all mulch and soil producers to join us in that effort. Robert C. LaGasse is Executive Director of The Mulch & Soil Council. If you would like to learn more about the Mulch & Soil Council, please visit their website at mulchandsoilcouncil.org. If you would like to become a member, please call 806-832-1810. Cover photo courtesy of The Mulch & Soil Council.

Wisconsin Leads in Forest Industry Jobs

Buffalo Launches Food Waste Recycling Program

ashington, DC — According to the most recent numbers released by the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), private working forests support about 2.5 million jobs, $109 billion in payroll, and account for $288 billion dollars in sales and manufacturing. The figures are cited in a new report compiled by Forest2Market, which analyzes Forest & Inventory Analysis (FIA) data from the Forest Service and North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes from the Department of Labor. In Wisconsin, jobs are increasing, along with the volumes of saw timber used in hardwood flooring and furniture. The same is true for timber sales, according to a spokesperson for The Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association and Wisconsin Council on Forestry. Wisconsin’s forestry sector increased by nearly 5 percent from 2010 to 2016, bringing the total number of workers to 174,848. Timber sales increased by nearly 10 percent to $21.6 billion in 2016, the most recent year that comprehensive data were available, Wisconsin Public Radio has reported. Most of the state’s 16.5 million timberland acres are privately owned, according to the study. Public lands account for about 4.7 million acres, and companies and people own the remaining 11.8 million. 4

Soil & Mulch Producer News May / June 2019

uffalo, NY (WKBW) — The City of Buffalo is adding five new food waste drop-off sites after scoring a big success with a pilot composting program that diverted nearly 2000 pounds of scraps from landfill, according to a WKBW news report. The city is partnering with Buffalo River Compost to recycle food scraps, along with green waste. The company turns the organics into compost at its 12-15-acre parcel along the Buffalo River. At the same location, conservation group, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, conducts remediation projects such as bio-retention ponds for stormwater management and habitat projects, such as wildflower plots for pollinators. The city will be working with Natural Upcycling LLC to provide food waste collection services at the five locations. Natural Upcycling provides services in MA, MD, NJ, PA, VA), and is upstate New York’s largest landfill-diverting food waste collection company, according to its website. Part of “34 and More,” Buffalo’s public initiative to increase the city’s recycling rate— currently 23 percent— the new program aims to increase organic waste recycling. The latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that Americans toss away 30 to 40 percent of their food. Approximately $161 billion worth of food ends up in landfills every year.

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Trump Administration Proposes Major Cuts in Federal Science Programs By Bonner R. Cohen

etting up what is certain to be a bruising showdown with Congress over Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending, President Donald Trump’s budget proposal recommends significant funding reductions in science programs at a slew of federal agencies. If Congress approves the budget Trump unveiled on March 11, the proposed cuts would go into effect on October 1, 2019. Similar in size to the spending reductions Trump proposed in FY 2018 and FY 2019, this year’s budget blueprint will have to get through a Congress in which Democrats control the House of Representatives.

Proposing Steep EPA Cuts

argely the work of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the proposal would dramatically cut funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA’s budget would be reduced from $8.8 billion to $6.1 billion, with spending for science and technology cut by $440 million. The White House proposes cutting EPA’s Atmospheric Protection Program, which reports on greenhouse gases, by 90 percent, and reducing funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 70 percent.

The budget cuts proposed for EPA by the White House won’t jeopardize the agency’s mission to protect public health and the environment, says EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This commonsense budget proposal would support the agency as it continues to work with states, tribes, and local governments to protect human health and the environment,” Wheeler said in a statement.

DOE, NOAA Reductions Proposed

he White House proposes allocating $5.5 billion to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, about 16 percent below the FY 2019 amount. Among DOE’s cuts, the budget request calls for eliminating DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency– Energy (ARPA-E), which funds experimental technologies the private sector is unwilling to back. For FY 2019, the White House requested approximately $1.4 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) satellite program, including polar weather satellites, space weather instruments, and satellite data collection systems. For FY 2020, the Trump administration has proposed reducing NOAA’s satellite budget by about $200 million, to $1.2 billion. The plan suggests a budget of $7.1 billion for National Science Foundation, about 12 percent less than the current level.

‘Wasting Money Is Never Good’

oo much of what the federal government spends on science goes to flawed or frivolous research, says Dan Kish, a senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research. “Wasting money is never good, so it’s a good thing the Trump administration is looking for some accountability,” said Kish. “Taxpayers are tired of business-as-usual practices at our bloated bureaucracies, and a reckoning is long overdue.” Congress is likely to stymie Trump’s attempts to rein in federal spending, says David Wojick, a senior policy analyst at the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). “Congress will continue to ignore the president’s valiant attempt to trim the fat at these agencies,” Wojick said. “The president used to be able to refuse to spend unwise appropriations, but those days are long gone.”

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Bonner R. Cohen, Ph.D. (bcohen@nationalcenter. org) is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research and a senior policy analyst with CFACT. This article was reprinted with permission from heartland.org, a product of The Heartland Institute (https://www.heartland. org/news-opinion/news/trump-administrationproposes-major-cuts-in-federal-scienceprograms).

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Courts Reject Challenges to EPA Policy on Science Advisory Boards By Bonner R. Cohen

n two separate cases, federal courts tossed out lawsuits challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) policy aimed at preventing conflicts of interest for people serving on the agency’s scientific advisory boards. EPA’s various scientific advisory committees and boards review the quality and relevance of the scientific and technical information the agency uses as the basis for regulations, including reviewing EPA research programs and recommending or issuing research grants.

Preventing Conflicts of Interest

n October 2017, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a directive setting strict new guidelines for those serving on the agency’s advisory panels. To prevent even the appearance of conflicts of interest, the directive prohibited scientists serving on EPA advisory committees from receiving grants from the agency. Pruitt’s successor, Andrew Wheeler, has continued the policy. As a result, several academics who had been serving on EPA’s advisory panels were removed from them after they refused to relinquish their EPA grants. In accordance with EPA’s changed policy, Wheeler appointed new members to EPA’s Science Advisory Board and other advisory panels in mid-February of this year. Among those appointed was prominent climate skeptic John Christy, a climate scientist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. In addition, to provide greater balance on EPA’s panels as required by federal rules, some scientists from regulated industries with specialized expertise replaced scientists from academia on the panels. Advocacy groups, led by the activist organization Physicians for Social Responsibility, along with some scientists who had previously served on the advisory boards under the old policy allowing advisors on panels that make EPA grants also to be grant recipients, sued to overturn the policy. In Physicians for Social Responsibility Et Al. V. Andrew Wheeler, the plaintiffs argued EPA’s changed policy violated federal ethics guidelines. Judge Trevor McFadden of the District Court for the District of Columbia rejected that claim, upholding the 2017 policy directive in a February 12 ruling.

‘Substantial Discretion’

PA has a great deal of discretion under federal rules to determine who and under what conditions a person is qualified to serve on its advisory committees, said McFadden in his decision, and EPA’s policy forcing researchers to choose between serving as an advisor or receiving grants from the agency falls squarely within the agency’s discretion. “[Laws and regulation at issue] do not dictate whom administrators must, or even should, appoint to federal advisory committees,” McFadden wrote in his ruling. “Agency heads retain substantial discretion to determine membership on federal advisory committees.” When Pruitt unveiled the new policy, he said it was aimed at assuring the public the agency’s advisory boards were independent. “We want to ensure that there’s integrity in the process, and that the scientists who are advising us are doing so with not any type of appearance of conflict,” Pruitt said in a press release. “And when you receive that much money, … there’s a question that arises about independence.” McFadden determined EPA had adequately justified its change in policy based on the agency’s desire to remove any potential for conflicts of interest.

Court Tosses NRDC Lawsuit

n a separate action, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a similar lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) challenging EPA’s advisory board policy change. On March 22, the court ruled NRDC lacked standing to sue the agency, having failed to show it or its members were harmed by Pruitt’s directive. NRDC and the Union of Concerned Scientists had both filed lawsuits in early 2018 claiming they and their members would be injured by EPA’s new policy. In rejecting NRDC’s lawsuit, the court ruled NRDC failed to demonstrate EPA’s changed policies would result in damage to the scientific integrity of its advisory panels. In addition, the court found NRDC had not shown it had been concretely injured by, for example, having some its members removed or barred from federal advisory committees as a result of the directive.

‘Deplorable Behavior and Attitudes’

here is widespread corruption of science throughout federal agencies, says attorney and medical doctor John Dale Dunn, an emergency physician and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute, which publishes Environment & Climate News. “I have had repeated interactions with federal advisory scientific panels over the past three decades, in which the participants exhibited deplorable behavior and attitudes on scientific issues,” said Dunn. “They pretended to be open to discussing disputed scientific issues that influence policymaking, but they were biased and closed-minded, regularly using studies based on junk science using flawed methodologies that confused correlation with causation, and accepted claims of harm based on unrealistically high assumptions about exposure levels and the dangers of exposure to miniscule amounts of chemicals. “There is a very serious problem with the government research complex; it has been corrupted, with the scientific advisory panels not being reliable referees of either the scientific process or the government regulations they recommend or support,” Dunn said. “I am very pleased the courts have recognized the benefits of having scientific advisory panels convened with precautions taken to ensure objective and fair assessments of the scientific issues being considered.”

Considers It Common Sense

PA’s action to prevent conflicts of interest is long overdue, say David Wojick, Ph.D., a senior policy analyst with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). “It makes sense people getting government money to study a specific issue should not be advising the government on the importance of that issue,” Wojick said. “The conflict of interest in such situations is obvious, and it’s good EPA has finally confronted it.” Bonner R. Cohen, Ph.D. (bcohen@nationalcenter.org) is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research and a senior policy analyst with CFACT. This article was reprinted with permission from heartland.org, a product of The Heartland Institute (https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/ news/courts-reject-challenges-to-epa-policy-on-science-advisory-boards).

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USDA National Organics Program (NOP) Rejects Attacks on Container Growers By Robert C. LaGasse, MSC Executive Director

ccording to the Coalition for Sustainable Organics, groups opposed to certification of production systems incorporating containers and hydroponics failed in their most recent attempts to convince the USDA and the National Organic Standards Board to initiate the process for new standards for those production systems. Several activist groups including the Real Organic Project, the Organic Farmers Association, the National Organic Coalition and others presented testimony at the recent National Organic Standards Board meeting in Seattle and in recent press campaigns to call for a moratorium on certifications for organic production systems using containers and hydroponics. The moratorium would be followed by the revocation of certification for existing operations. However, if the USDA does not agree to those terms, the groups insist that new and more restrictive regulations must be drafted, implemented and then applied to container and hydroponic organic production systems. Those groups have begun the tactic of inventing hypothetical scenarios about production practices, and they then ask for clarification from USDA regarding the legality of such an approach. Although USDA indicated that they would not likely give opinions regarding hypothetical situations, it did issue a memo of clarification (see next article) redefining its interpretation of existing provisions under the law that disadvantages some container grower and hydroponic operations that have previously been acceptable. There is little doubt that this “clarification” was the result of heavy pressure from organic extremist groups who oppose fair competition from container growers. USDA does not have the authority to implement standards through the guidance process that would create special restrictions for container operations. Any new restrictions would have to go through the formal rule making process. For some time, the eco-left in the organic crop movement has unsuccessfully opposed hydroponic and greenhouse container growers being certified organic producers. Cloaked in transparently political arguments about stewardship of the land and eco-diversity, the actual issue appears more to be based on small traditional farmers objecting to the dollars-peracre productivity advantage of container growers that make overall organic produce more available and more affordable to the general public. The last efforts to exclude hydroponic and container growers were appropriately rejected by USDA just a few months ago. Then came the threat by small organic farming organizations to publicly list, berate and boycott organic certifiers who approved organic container growers. This was met with an appropriate rejection by certifiers. Now comes the following rules “clarification” based on an anti-competitive interpretation of the irrelevant relationship between container growing systems and the non-producing land upon which they sit: MEMORANDUM from Dr. Jennifer Tucker Deputy Administrator USDA National Organic Program (NOP) (All emphasis added by MSC)

10 Soil & Mulch Producer News May / June 2019

his memo summarizes the rules that accredited certifying agents (certifiers) must follow when determining the eligibility and compliance of container systems for organic crop certification. In this memo, the term container system includes container, hydroponic, and other plant pot-based systems, with or without soil as the growing media. Certifiers and operations must meet the requirements of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990, as amended (7 USC §§ 6501-6522), and the USDA organic regulations (7 C.F.R. §§ 205.1-205.699). The OFPA, Section 6502 defines a certified organic farm as “a farm, or portion of a farm, or site where agricultural products or livestock are produced.” Section 6504 specifies the standards for organic production: “To be sold or labeled as an organically produced agricultural product under this title, an agricultural product shall: (1) have been produced and handled without the use of synthetic chemicals, except as otherwise provided in this title; (2) except as otherwise provided in this title and excluding livestock, not be produced on land to which any prohibited substances, including synthetic chemicals, have been applied during the 3 years immediately preceding the harvest of the agricultural products; and (3) be produced and handled in compliance with an organic plan agreed to by the producer and handler of such product and the certifying agent.” The USDA organic regulations implement these requirements at 7 CFR 205.202, stating that “any field or farm parcel from which harvested crops are intended to be sold, labeled, or represented as “organic,” must…. have had no prohibited substances, as listed in §205.105, applied to it for a period of 3 years immediately preceding harvest of the crop.” This requirement is referred to as the 3-year transition period. The National Organic Program (NOP) has consistently allowed for the certification of container systems as long as the certifier determines that the system complies with OFPA and the USDA organic regulations. This is consistent with 7 USC 6512, which states: “If a production or handling practice is not prohibited or otherwise restricted under this chapter, such practice shall be permitted unless it is determined that such practice would be inconsistent with the applicable organic certification program.” This memo clarifies that the legal requirements related to the 3-year transition period apply to all container systems built and maintained on land. Certifiers must consider two questions when certifying container systems: • Eligibility: Is the land eligible for organic production? • Compliance: Is the system compliant with the USDA organic regulations, and can it maintain compliance? Eligibility onsistent with the OFPA and USDA organic regulations, certifiers must confirm that organic crops have been produced and handled without the use of synthetic substances (with the noted exceptions of synthetic substances allowed for organic crop production on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances); and must not be produced on land to which prohibited substances have been applied during the 3 years immediately preceding the harvest of agricultural crops. This means that certifiers are to assess land use histories for container system sites, just as they would for an in-ground soil-based system. If a prohibited substance was applied to the land at the farm or site within the 3-year period before the first organic harvest, then the harvested crops shall not be sold, labeled, or represented as “organic” until the 3-year period has passed. If the operation documents that no prohibited substance was applied within that 3-year period, then the land may be eligible for container system production, just as it would be for a soil-based system.

Examples: • A container operation wishes to construct a container system on a plot of land and provides evidence that no prohibited substance has been applied

Continued from page 12

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May / June 2019 Soil & Mulch Producer News 11

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USDA NOP Rejects Attacks on Container Growers Continued from page 10

•

within 3 years before the expected harvest. This land may be eligible for organic production. A container operation is proposed to be constructed on land that was treated with a prohibited substance within the past year. This land would not be eligible for organic production until 3 years had passed between the application and projected harvest.

Ongoing Compliance nce certified, certifiers must assess container systems for ongoing compliance with the USDA organic regulations. No prohibited substances may be applied anywhere in the system, including on the land underlying the system, or in the system itself. NOTE: This could mean that any prohibited substance applied to the land under or around a container operation, but not on the container system, could hinder recertification or be targeted for competitor complaints and disqualified under the 3-year rule. Certifiers must evaluate the compliance of the overall system, including maintaining or improving natural resources, supporting nutrient cycling, promoting ecological balance, and conserving biodiversity. This memo applies to all new container systems that have not yet been certified under the organic program. It is not retroactive to already certified operations and sites. All currently certified container system operations retain their certification as long as they maintain compliance with the regulations.

Robert C. LaGasse is Executive Director of The Mulch & Soil Council. If you would like to learn more about the Mulch & Soil Council, please visit their website at mulchandsoilcouncil.org. If you would like to become a member, please call 806-832-1810.

Stimson Lumber Cuts Jobs,Threatens to Pull Out of Oregon For Good

ortland, OR — Tillamook-based Stimson Lumber Company said it will move some of its operations out of Oregon to Idaho and Montana, WWeek.com reports. The loss of 60 jobs at Stimson’s Forest Grove mill, accounts for 40 percent of the workforce there. The decision to downsize its Oregon operations is a retaliation against policies Stimson’s company president says are hurting business. One of the policies backed by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is a $1 billion-a-year tax increase to fund schools that was passed by the Oregon Legislature. The other is a 2015 Clean Fuels Program requiring reduced carbon emissions. Legislators are also considering a cap and trade package he opposes. The company has been fighting such state policies— which it says raises timber business costs— by influencing politics in areas outside Democratic stronghold, Portland. Stimson stands with another large privately held Oregon forest products company, Linn-County-based Freres Lumber, which also balked against the Democrat-backed policies. According to its website, Stimson Lumber Company produces studs, dimensional lumber, timbers and hardboard products from environmentally certified forests. The company, which supports the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) program, owns and manages over 500,000 acres of forest land in the Western United States.

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City of Austin Takes Over Biomass Power Plant for $460 Million

ustin, TX — The city of Austin has purchased Nacogdoches Generating Facility, a wood chip-fueled biomass power plant, according to Statesman.com. Since a 20-year $2.3 billion contract was signed in 2012, the city has been the power plant’s only customer. The contract was set to run through 2032, but the electricity proved too expensive for the city. The East Texas power plant can generate 115 megawatts. The purchase allows Austin Energy to issue taxable revenue bonds that will be paid out over 13 years, the same amount of time remaining on the city’s contract with the power plant’s owner, Southern Company, a city official told The Statesman. Austin Energy is acquiring Nacogdoches Power LLC, the holding company for the biomass facility. Austin expects to save $275 million by buying the facility. Under the old contract, the municipal utility would have been on the hook for escalating annual payments regardless of whether the city bought energy from Nacogdoches. When the original contract came about, industry analysts predicted skyrocketing fossil fuel prices in the wake of new federal carbon taxes. But those predictions never came true. Instead, the carbon taxes never materialized, natural gas prices plummeted, and biomass-generated energy prices soared. This resulted in the city paying for operations costs at a power plant that was not generating any electricity. City council will be evaluating the future economic viability of the facility. Meanwhile plant operations will continue.

Planting seeds for Logging Industry Talent

uburn, AL — A new Alabama collaboration is working to change logging’s image as a dangerous, dirty and strictly regulated industry with increasing automation, an older workforce and diminishing career opportunities, according to JournalGazette.com and AlabamaNewsCenter.com reports. The Alabama Forestry Association (AFA) and an Auburn University forestry professor have teamed up to attract logging business owners. They hope to prevent a labor shortage as today’s workforce retires. Data collected by the trade group and Auburn’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences put the average age of the logging business owner at 54, with almost half in the 60 and above category, and the same for equipment operators. Although startup costs are much higher than in the past because capital investments have increased substantially with pricier heavy equipment, there are suppliers and middlemen who can offer financial assistance to logging business entrepreneurs, who can eventually earn $60,000 to $70,000 a year. It doesn’t take years to learn the equipment and business. The new ForestryWorks program, backed by the AFA was established to teach operators how to be productive with the equipment in a safe manner. While the class is only four to six weeks long (just enough time for the basics), it will usually take several months before an operator is proficient. Most loggers in the Southeast run a tree-length operation using a feller-buncher to cut the tree and place it in bunches; a skidder to pull those bunches to the deck or landing; and then a trailer-mounted, knuckleboom loader to process the trees for the market(s) they are delivering to and load them onto trucks, Auburn Professor Tom Gallagher says. Gallagher warns that a shortage of loggers will drive up timber prices, just like any commodity with a supply-and-demand situation. The fewer loggers remaining would demand more payment for their services, which would be passed on to the consumer.

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Government of Canada Awards Lambert Peat Moss $1.9M to Upgrade Operations

ivière-Ouelle, QC — A $1.9 million award from the Canadian government will help Lambert Peat Moss upgrade its facilities in Rivière-Ouelle, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, and LongueRive, in the Côte-Nord region, including acquiring modern automation equipment, according to a Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions news release. The money from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) is a repayable contribution. With this financial assistance, the SME will be able to improve its productivity through the adoption of advanced automated technologies and develop new high-value-added horticultural products. Lambert Peat Moss, a fourth-generation family-owned business that develops and distributes sphagnum peat moss-based horticultural products, is one of the key players in Quebec’s peat moss industry, employing 200 employees at six production plants in the Bas-Saint-Laurent, Côte-Nord and Saguenay regions. It also has a distribution center for the U.S. market in Beloeil, near Montréal. The Government of Canada is committed to creating close partnerships with Quebec businesses to support their efforts to innovate and increase their productivity and competitiveness, and contribute to the economic vitality of the regions, job creation and the improvement of citizens’ quality of life. The funding was awarded under CED’s Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program.

PFAS Pose Challenges for Food Waste Composting

ccording to study findings published in the May 29, 2019 issue of Environmental Science Technology Letters, the per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in compostable food packaging may pose health and environmental problems. The compost study, conducted by a team of Purdue University researchers, has sparked new concerns about the synthetic compounds used in paper-based boxes, cups, and plates. The coatings that repel water and grease often contain PFAS, which were found to be non-biodegradable. They also bioaccumulate in humans. These chemicals could become problematic in two ways, the study authors say. First, if the compost is applied to crops, the plants could absorb the PFAS, and humans would ingest the chemicals as they ate the produce. They also can leach into groundwater and rivers, thus threatening drinking water supplies. PFAS replaced two other synthetic compounds Perfluorooctanesulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA widely used before 2011 in packaging, non-stick coatings for clothing and cookware and fire retardants. Once they were found to bioaccumulate in human tissue and the environment, manufacturers began voluntarily phasing them out. Studies found links between exposure to PFOS and PFOA and cancer, birth defects, and thyroid dysfunction. The new PFAS used in today’s packaging don’t persist in the body as long PFOS and PFOA compounds; however, they don’t break down in the environment. Amid growing concerns, the State of Washington placed a ban on PFAS in food packaging with passage of the Healthy Food Packaging Act last year. The ban takes effect in 2022.

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BC Wood Supply Shortage Sparks Norbord, Canfor, Others to Close

ritish Columbia, Canada — Grappling with diminished wood supply and high prices resulting from wildfire and mountain pine beetle epidemic damages, foresters across the province are curtailing production or shutting indefinitely, reports Globalnews.ca. Norbord Inc. will be shuttering its 100 Mile House facility this August, while Canfor will be curtailing operations at all British Columbia sawmills, except WynnWood. According to the company, the majority of mills will be curtailed for two weeks with extended curtailments of four weeks at Houston and Plateau, and six weeks at Mackenzie. Vavenby announced it will shut its doors in July. The B.C. government is putting community transition response teams in place to help the hundreds affected find employment. Meanwhile, it has launched a revitalization plan to maximize wood value by directing wood waste to the province’s pulp and paper mills with the aim of buoying the sagging industry. Meanwhile, political tensions are rising as the Liberals and Conservatives air their disagreements over economic policy with each favoring business or labor, but not both.

U.S. Forest Service Proposes to Increase Environmental Review of Timberlands marisa@e-milagro.com

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ashington, DC — Just released, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service (USFS) new proposed rule seeks to simplify or eliminate altogether certain environmental

reviews. According to the Forest Service, the revisions are intended to lower taxpayer costs and make it easier to maintain and repair the infrastructure in public lands, such as roads, trails, campgrounds, and other facilities. Coming at the heels of sharp criticism by President Trump over the agency’s forestry management practices that he believes have contributed to wildfires, the rule updates how the agency complies with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Environmental groups, such as Center for Biological Diversity and others say the rule is a way of allowing the forestry industry more control and would not protect communities because it excludes them from participating in the review process. The new rule attempts to further modernize practices that were updated in 2008 but based on a 1992 NEPA Manual and Handbook by incorporating experience from past 10 years. This experience includes input from comments on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from January of 2018, as well as feedback from roundtables, workshops, and input from agency experts. Federal law requires an environmental review for projects on federal land, but exceptions may be granted. The new rule changes how the agency reviews restoration projects, roads and trails management, and recreation and facility management, essentially allowing more exceptions for skipping the review process entirely if industry can show the project would not severely impact the environment. The same will apply for special use authorizations that issue permits for outfitters and guides, community organizations, civic groups and others who seek to recreate on our national forests and grasslands. “The new categorical exclusions are based on intensive analysis of hundreds of environmental assessments and related data and when fully implemented will reduce process delays for routine activities by months or years,” an agency statement explains. The proposed update is open for public comment for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Public comments are reviewed and considered when developing the final rule. Instructions on how to provide comments are included in the online notice. More information on the proposed rule change and how to comment is available on the Forest Service website.

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ADVERTISER NEWS

Premier Tech Sets Foot in Mexico with its Latest Acquisition

remier Tech recently announced the acquisition of the company IDTec Automatización. This first acquisition in Mexico will allow Premier Tech to offer local aftermarket support for Mexican and Latin American companies. Together, IDTec and Premier Tech aim to exceed expectations in terms of client experience especially for technical support, parts deliveries, and preventive maintenance programs on packaging equipment lines. Established in Mexico since 2000, IDTec Automatización is an integrator of robotic systems specialized in end-ofline applications and material handling solutions. Consistent with Premier Tech’s desire to provide after-sales service, the acquisition of this growing business will allow Premier Tech to pursue the development of its worldwide client experience.

Finland Wood Fuel Consumption at Record Highs

elsinki, Finland — Statistics released by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) show that wood feedstock volumes consumed by country’s heating and power plants peaked in 2017 and again in 2018, Phys.Org reports. The plants consumed a combined total of 20 million solid cubic meters (38 terawatt-hours) of solid wood fuels last year, mainly as the result of use of black liquor produced by the forest industries. Small-scale combustion of wood remained unchanged. Consumption of solid by-products, such as bark, sawdust and industrial chips decreased, as did consumption of wood pellets and briquettes decreased from 2017 levels, but recycled wood increased. Forest chips consumption increased by 3 percent from 2017 as fuel for combined heat and power production following a four-year decrease. Small-sized trees used as raw material for forest chips came in at slightly less than in 2017, but logging residues increased markedly. Use of large-sized timber was up. The Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) is a research and expert organization that works to promote the bioeconomy and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Arizona State University Closes the Loop for Green Waste

hoenix, AZ — Arizona State University has implemented a “closed-loop” process for composting green waste on all campuses, according to an ASUNow news release. Under the closed loop process, ASU’s green waste — tree trimmings and grass clippings from all campuses — is collected and hauled to a city of Phoenix composting facility. Then, ASU purchases the finished product to use on flowerbeds, lawns and fields throughout the university. The partnership between ASU Grounds Services and the ASU Zero Waste department and city of Phoenix is aimed at achieving zero waste by diverting materials from landfills for productive use. ASU sent an average of 41.6 tons a month of green and wood waste to be composted in 2018. In November, ASU purchased back 190 yards, about 120,000 pounds, of finished compost that was placed on the Tempe Sun Devil Fitness Complex fields, annual flowerbeds and other campus lawns. ASU aims to achieve 90 percent landfill diversion by 2025.

Oldcastle APG Acquires Buckeye Resources of Ohio

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ldcastle APG recently announced the acquisition of Buckeye Resources, allowing the company to expand its network of plants and products to Ohio. Buckeye Resources was established in 1984 by Richard E. Posey and specializes in manufacturing, packaging and delivering high quality mulches to customers from its facility in Springfield, Ohio. Buckeye has been serving the lawn and garden industry through both the retail and wholesale channels. Similar to Oldcastle APG’s Lawn & Garden business unit, Buckeye Resources serves a wide variety of customers, channels and segments in its geographical area. “Buckeye Resources is a leader in its market with high quality products,” said Tim Ortman, President, Oldcastle APG. “With Buckeye Resources, we have a perfect geographic and cultural fit, enhancing our ability to provide products and service to new and existing customers in Ohio.” “Oldcastle APG’s Lawn & Garden business unit provides bagged and bulk mulch, soils, professional growing media, decorative stone, lime and specialty amendments to retail and commercial customers,” said Joe Ertel, President, Oldcastle Lawn & Garden. According to the company, Oldcastle APG’s Lawn & Garden plant network has expanded every year since 2006.

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May / June 2019 Soil & Mulch Producer News 19

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Composting Enhances Biodegradation of Antimicrobials in Manure

tudy findings published in the Journal of Environmental Quality show that composting manure can be an effective way of keeping antimicrobials out of the environment where they have been linked to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. A team of Canadian researchers, from the University of Manitoba, Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada in Lethridge, Alberta used a new methodology to compare dissipation rates of antimicrobials in manure. It has been accepted that composting can break down antibiotic molecules and significantly reduce their concentrations in manure before the manure is spread on crop fields. To replicate real-world conditions as much as possible, the University of Manitoba researchers administered antimicrobials in livestock feed and tested dissipation rates in the excreted manure versus rates in composted manure to which antimicrobials had been added. Previous studies had focused only on adding different antimicrobials directly to manure in the lab. The study focused on three antimicrobials: chlortetracycline, sulfamethazine and tylosin. The drugs were added to the feed of the excretion test animals, but not a control group. For the control group, the drugs were added to their manure. Manure collected from all study groups was composted for 30 days, sampled every 2 to 3 days and analyzed for antimicrobials and compost properties. On average, 85 to 99 percent of the initial sulfamethazine and tylosin had dissipated after 30 days of composting. The dissipation rate of chlortetracycline, however, was greater for the excreted manure than for the composted manure. The researchers concluded that composting works for breaking down antimicrobials in manure, but at different rates, depending on the drug.

Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate & Environmental Policy

The center is named in honor of, and chaired by, Arthur B. Robinson, Ph.D., a distinguished chemist, cofounder of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM), and editor of the influential newsletter Access to Energy.

“The Heartland Institute has published the work of many excellent scientists ... [and] has taken the fight right to the enemy with aggressive and highly effective campaigns aimed at elected officials and civic and business leaders.”

t the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute, we are producing the research and conducting the effective advocacy needed to help restore sound science and common sense to efforts to protect the environment. The Center promotes pro-energy, proenvironment, and pro-jobs policies based on sound science and economics, not alarmism or ideology. Through events, publications, social media, and government relations programs we have changed public opinion on climate change and other environmental topics. We have changed public policy not only in the United States but in other countries as well. In 2017 and onward, we are focusing on winning the global warming war and repealing bad legislation and regulations adopted during the height of the global warming scare. With your help, we can win the global warming war. Please contact us at 312/377-4000 or www.think@.heartland.org think@heartland.org, or visit our website at www.heartland.org/Center-Climate-Environment heartland.org/Center-Climate-Environment.

University of Maine Turns Wood Waste into Advanced Biofuel

ld Town, ME — Researchers at University of Maine are converting sawdust, old cardboard boxes, logging residues, and other wood biomass into crude oil, reports NewsCenterMaine.com. The 40,000 square foot Forest Bioproducts Research Institute (FBRI) pilot plant, which is located at an old wood pulp plant in Old Town, has been operating on a fee-for-service basis since 2012. The plant is a valuable resource for startups and large corporations that want to test new fuel ideas and collect engineering data. At full capacity, FBRI can produce about one-ton a day of fuel. Currently, the United States Air Force is running a study at the plant to test refined jet fuel made from wood to see if it meets military and commercial aircraft specifications. Although the pilot plant has produced only a couple of barrels of crude oil total, the quality is cleaner than oil from Saudi Arabia because it doesn’t contain sulfur, a UMaine Institute official says. Wood-based biofuel is about 60 percent lower in greenhouse gas emissions than traditional diesel fuel. According to the FBRI website, “almost everything that is now made from petroleum can also be made from wood: fuels, energy, chemicals, composites, coatings, and plastics.” Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development is promoting the potential for commercializing biofuels in Maine. It could revitalize the state’s forestry industry, open shuttered mills and provide a range of plant and laboratory job opportunities. So far, the state has invested $750,000 in Biofine, a company that has come up with an additive for home heating oil that could increase residential heating efficiency. Meanwhile, a company with plans for a 110-ton crude oil refinery is raising capital with an eye toward locating the facility in Maine. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard regulation requires fuel to be blended into transportation fuel in increasing amounts each year, rising to 36 billion gallons by 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Wood-based crude oil could qualify as an advanced biofuel because it is derived from cellulose. The UMaine crude oil project has been funded by National Science Foundation and Department of Energy EPSCoR awards.

Natural Gas Company Works with Maine Dairies to Produce Biogas

linton, ME — Summit Utilities Inc., the parent company of Summit Natural Gas of Maine Inc., is working with five dairy farms in Clinton on plans build and operate a digester that will convert cow manure to gas for heat and cooking, according to a CentralMaine. com article. In a statement, a Summit official said the company will invest $20 million into the digester project, which it says will supply about 125,000 MMBtu of gas a year, or about 45 percent of the company’s annual residential gas demand in the state. The company has reduced greenhouse emissions by an estimated 69,000 metric tons a year in Maine through conversions to natural gas and energy efficiency upgrades. Renewable energy credits from the digester will be sold to third parties to help them meet their emissions reduction goals. Summit began constructing its natural gas system in Maine in 2013. Since that time, the company has invested more than $340 million to make natural gas available to customers throughout the Kennebec Valley, Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth. The company also has provided $3 million in energy-efficiency rebates to convert residential, commercial and large industrial customers from oil to natural gas using high-efficiency equipment. About 60 percent of Maine heating is by oil. The thousands of cows at Clinton’s dairy farms produce 17 percent of the state’s dairy output. The Clinton digester is expected to be commissioned and producing gas by the first quarter of 2021, pending government approval and regulatory permits.

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May / June 2019 Soil & Mulch Producer News 21

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Vermont Composting Facility Receives State Money to Improve Screening

rattleboro — Windham Solid Waste Management District has received a $60,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to purchase a trommel screen for its food waste composting facility, Reformer.com reports. Total price is $168,520 for the specialized trommel screen, which is manufactured in Austria. With it, the District will be able to increase the volume of food waste it processes for compost. Once screened, the material is trucked from the compost pad to seven distributors in three states. Last year, the District sold almost 2,000 cubic yards of compost. An official said they are on track for increasing that volume this year. The District has had some difficult years financially with its aging materials recycling facility (MRF). Then, with more towns switching to single-stream recycling, the volume delivered to the District’s dual-stream facility decreased. Coupled with declining prices for recycled commodities, the District closed the MRF in June 2016, and has since focused on expanding its food waste composting operation. According to the District’s executive director, the facility’s food waste composting operation is now the second largest in Vermont, having processed more than 1,200 tons of food waste in 2018. Combined with other organic materials, the District processed 3,300 tons in 2018, converting it to Brattlegrow compost. The new screen will position the facility to help the District meet Vermont’s July 2020 ban on food waste in landfill that has rolled out mandates for increased residential waste collection and composting.

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Orlando Harvests Electricity from Food Waste

rlando, FL — The City of Orlando’s food waste recycling program is paying off in more than one way, according to a WFTV.com report. Diverting food waste from landfill is saving Orlando in tipping bills and electricity. The city is saving on tipping bills by sending the waste to the anaerobic digester at Harvest Power and creating power for homes. The City of Orlando collects food waste from more than 30 companies but does not have residential curbside food waste pick up currently. Residents can drop off their food waste at the weekly farmers market. In one day, more than 400 pounds of food scraps were dropped off, according to an Orlando sustainability official. Harvest Power, which has an anaerobic digestor at its Bay Lake, Florida facility gets much of its food waste from Walt Disney World®. The company produces methane to generate electricity, as well as bulk fertilizer. In 2018, biofuel from the digester was used to create power for 2,300 homes. At full capacity, the digester will be able to power as many as 16,000 homes per year, a Harvest Power official said in the television interview. The company operates food waste and green waste composting facilities and biodigesters in California, Maryland and Connecticut.

HDOA Compost Reimbursement Program Begins

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onolulu, HI — The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) is offering to pay for half the compost costs incurred by agricultural producers, according to an HDOA press release issued on June 10, 2019. The Compost Reimbursement Program provides financial assistance to farmers to ease some of the operational cost relating to the purchase of composting material. Act 89, passed by the state in 2018, allocates $650,000 over a two-year period to support composting with reimbursements of up to $50,000 per applicant per year. The program runs through fiscal year 2019 (July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019) and a portion of fiscal year 2020 (July 1, 2019, to March 30, 2020). The remainder of the three-year program has not yet been funded by the legislature. Under the reimbursement program, compost must be purchased from a certified processor, retailer or wholesaler licensed to do business in Hawai‘i. In addition, certified Hawai‘i processors are limited to those companies regulated under the Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Solid Waste Management Program.

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VOL. XIII NO. 3

MAY / JUNE 2019

Inside This Issue The Mulch & Soil Council — Serving Mulch & Soil Producers Since 1972 PAGE 1

Trump Administration Proposes Major Cuts in Federal Science Programs PAGE 6 Courts Reject Challenges to EPA Policy on Science Advisory Boards PAGE 8 USDA National Organics Program (NOP) Rejects Attacks on Container Growers PAGE 10 Composting Enhances Biodegradation of Antimicrobials in Manure PAGE 20 Orlando Harvests Electricity from Food Waste PAGE 22

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