EPA Seeks Expanded Power via 'Sustainable Development'

Registration Open for Bale Packaging Meeting

NCC Planting Intentions Survey Underway

MAP Funding Announced

Sales Slim, Shipments Steady

Cotton's Week Holiday Schedule Set

EPA wants to change how it analyzes problems and makes decisions in a way that will give it expanded power to regulate businesses, communities, and ecosystems in the name of "sustainable development," according to a news report. Much of the thought behind this idea comes from a study, "Sustainability and the U.S. EPA," that EPA commissioned last year from the National Academies of Science (NAS) and published in August.

The study's panel declares part of its job to be "providing guidance to EPA on how it might implement its existing statutory authority to contribute more fully to a more sustainable-development trajectory for the United States", that is, how to use existing laws to new ends. According to NAS, the sustainability study "both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s."

According to the study, the adoption of the new "sustainability framework" will make the EPA more "anticipatory" in its approach to environmental issues, broaden its focus to include both social and economic as well as environmental "pillars," and "strengthen EPA as an organization and a leader in the nation's progress toward a sustainable future."

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said that sustainability is "the next phase of environmental protection" and "fundamental to the future of the EPA." She described the new approach as "the difference between treating disease and pursuing wellness."

The study urges EPA to "create a new culture among all EPA employees," and hire an array of new experts in order to bring the sustainability focus to every corner of the agency and its operations. Changes will move faster "as EPA's intentions and goals in sustainability become clear to employees," the study says.

The NAS and the EPA held a meeting last week in Washington to begin public discussion of the study.

Online registration is now open for the '12 Joint Cotton Industry Bale Packaging Committee (JCIBPC) annual meeting, set for Feb. 29 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. Attendees may register for the meeting at www.cotton.org/tech/bale/jcibpc-form.cfm.

A room block is being held at the Peabody for the nights of Feb. 28 and 29. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel's central reservations department at 901-529-4000 or 800-732-2639 and asking for the "NCC Bale Packaging" room block. Airline reservations can be made with the NCC's travel agency, Travelennium, by contacting Mary Saemenes at 901-762-7018, toll free 800-844-4924 Ext. 318 or msaemenes@travelennium.com.

In January, Additional meeting details will be distributed in January. In the meantime, contact the NCC's Maxine Shepard or Dale Thompson at jcibpc@cotton.org or (901) 274-9030 with questions or comments.

The NCC's annual survey of '12 planting intentions was mailed to upland and extra-long staple (ELS) cotton producers across the Cotton Belt. The survey, conducted each year to aid with industry planning and policy deliberations, provides the basis for the economic outlook presented to delegates during the NCC Annual Meeting in early February in Fort Worth, TX. Survey results will be presented during the Joint Meeting of Program Committees on Saturday morning, Feb. 11.

To enhance the survey's accuracy, producers are encouraged to respond by the Jan. 24 deadline. The current survey has been distributed through a combination of regular mail and email with the intent of reaching all cotton farms across the Belt. Growers who do not receive a survey may contact the NCC via email at econsurvey@cotton.org for survey instructions.

USDA announced Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) funding for FY12. The MAP is funded at $200 million annually and the FMD Program at $34.5 million annually, as authorized by the '08 farm law. USDA announced allocations of $183 million in MAP funds and $30 million in FMD funds, with the remaining funds held in reserve for potential allocations later in the program year.

Cotton Council International's (CCI) MAP allocation was $18,953,605, the second highest made to cooperator groups and will, with carryover funds, allow for an MAP program budget of approximately $21 million. CCI's $4.2 million FMD allocation was the third highest amount allocated and will, with carryover, allow for a program budget of just more than $5 million. CCI's combined allocation of MAP and FMD of just more than $23 million was the highest combined total allocation of all cooperator groups. USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service administers both MAP and FMD funding.

Net export sales for the week ending Dec. 15 were 75,100 bales (480-lb). This brings total '11-12 sales to approximately 10.5 million bales. Total sales at the same point in the '10-11 marketing year were approximately 14.3 million bales. Total new crop ('12-13) sales are 414,700 bales.

For the '11-12 marketing year, China is dominating US export sales with purchases of 5.7 million bales, or 54% of the total. Turkey remains a steady customer of US cotton with purchases of 836,000 bales. Currently, Mexico ranks as the third largest US customer with purchases of 762,000 bales. Thailand and Vietnam are fourth and fifth, respectively, each with purchases of about 400,000 bales. South Korea, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Peru and Pakistan round out the Top 10 customer list.

Shipments for the week were 222,600 bales, bringing total exports to date to 2.5 million bales, compared with the 3.8 million bales at the comparable point in the '10-11 marketing year.

The Cotton's Week newsletter was published today due to the NCC's holiday schedule. The NCC office will be closed Friday, Dec. 23 and Monday, Dec. 26. The office also will be closed on Friday, Dec. 30. Cotton's Week will not be published next week, but will resume with publication on Friday, Jan. 6.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!