EPA Abandons Dust Regs
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson stated in a letter to Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D- Mich.), released Monday, that EPA is “prepared to propose the retention—with no revision—of the current PM10 [coarse particulate matter] standard and form when it is sent to OMB [Office of Management and Budget] for interagency review.” According to Jackson, no additional farm dust regulations are planned by EPA.
CFB welcomes the announcement from Jackson, but believes farm dust should be entirely exempt from EPA regulation and strongly opposes any change in the current PM10 standard.
“CFB would like to thank Administrator Lisa Jackson for her common sense decision to retain the current standards for dust regulation,” said Don Shawcroft, President of Colorado Farm Bureau. “By announcing her decision, after more than a year of dithering, agricultural producers and rural municipalities can breathe easy knowing that they will not be held to a standard for air quality that they can never meet.”
Proposed regulations by the EPA would have made the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 (dust) twice as stringent as the current standard. The rule would have insured that vast areas of the western U.S. would have been out of compliance and subject to EPA fines. The Obama administration has sought to deflect talk about the proposed standard for months, blaming interest groups for getting agriculture “ginned up” over nothing, and characterizing the standards as a “myth.”
The move to scrap the proposed standard comes as a result of pressure from ag groups like Farm Bureau and is a tacit admission that farmers and ranchers had legitimate concerns.
“PM10 is found mainly in rural areas, naturally occurring from driving on unpaved roads or working in farm fields,” explained Rick Krause, AFBF clean air specialist. “Many rural areas have difficulty meeting current standards, and many more areas would not be able to meet more stringent standards. Farmers and ranchers in Arizona and southern California, where current standards are not being met, are regulated right now. The announcement by Administrator Jackson will not change that.”
Farm Bureau strongly supports two bills currently pending in Congress—H.R. 1633, introduced by Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Robert Hurt (R-Va.) and S. 1528, introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.)—that would prohibit EPA from revising the PM10 standard for at least a year and would also exempt dust from normal activities raised in rural areas from regulation under the Clean Air Act. Kevin Rogers, president of the Arizona Farm Bureau, is set to testify in support of the legislation on behalf of AFBF before the House Energy and Commerce Committee next Tuesday.
Hello.This post was extremely fascinating, particularly since I was investigating for thoughts on this matter last Thursday.