DOT backs off on proposed peanut ban on planes

By Bob Keefe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Transportation is backing off from a proposed rule that could have banned peanuts on airplanes, after realizing it didn't have the legal authority to do so.

The DOT on Tuesday issued a clarification stating that it was wrong when it issued an official notice of proposed rulemaking earlier this month. Such a peanut ban would have violated a 2000 appropriations act that funds the DOT, the agency acknowledged.

The DOT's original peanut ban proposal on June 8 drew cheers from peanut allergy sufferers but scorn from Georgia's peanut growers and the politicians who represent them. Georgia is the country's biggest peanut producer.

“This is great news for all peanut producers, especially those in Georgia," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop of Albany, whose district includes numerous peanut farms.

U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat from Macon, said DOT lawyers realized they were overstepping their bounds shortly after he and others called them to suggest a peanut ban would have been a violation of federal law.

"I think they just got ahead of themselves," Marshall said.

The language in the 2000 DOT appropriations act is unique. It specifies that no federal money can be used to ban peanuts or require a peanut-free buffer zone in any air carrier until at least 90 days after Congress and the DOT receive a peer-reviewed scientific study that determines peanut allergy sufferers can get a severe reaction on an airplane.

DOT spokesman Bill Mosely said the DOT will continue to solicit public comments about peanuts on airplanes, but added that the agency has "no preconceived idea" about what it will do with the comments or if it might propose a further review.