WASHINGTON, DC–U.S. Representative Kristi Noem (R-SD) recently delivered testimony at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on her bipartisan bill (H.R. 1633) which would prohibit further EPA regulation of farm dust as well as exclude farm dust that is regulated at the state or local level from federal standards. The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act has received strong support from agricultural leaders in South Dakota and across the country. They want the bill to pass and this is what they’re saying:
“Even with the EPA’s announcement, we still need Representative Noem’s bill because the EPA will have more opportunities to change regulations with each future review of the dust standards. We need to pass this bill to provide absolute certainty for farmers and ranchers.”
-Mike Held, CEO of the South Dakota Farm Bureau
“Producers already do a good job of keeping dust down on their own through best management practices like no till-farming. This bill is needed to provide permanent relief for farmers and ranchers. Dust control in rural areas should be kept at a local level and this bill makes that clear.”
- Steve Clements, President of the South Dakota Sheep Growers
“Regulatory uncertainty is unnecessary and unproductive. EPA can say it has no plans to further regulate dust but the fact is, in five years or possibly sooner, the agency will once again review the dust standard renewing the threat of a devastating, scientifically unfounded and unnecessary regulation of farm dust that would put farmers and ranchers across the nation out of business. Farmers and ranchers want and need certainty about this issue. The best way to provide that certainty is to pass the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011. Cattlemen won’t rest until it’s the law of the land.”
- Steve Foglesong, Immediate Past President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
“While the announcement by EPA Administrator Jackson said that she will propose to keep the current coarse PM standard is welcome news, the enactment of H.R. 1633 is still necessary. It balances the mandates of the Clean Air Act with the need to regulate only that which can reasonably be regulated and does not unduly cause adverse economic consequences. Unlike most other forms of particulate matter, rural dust occurs naturally from driving on unpaved roads, working in farm fields, and moving livestock. In addition, the EPA states that there are considerable scientific uncertainties in trying to link the occurrence of dust in rural areas with adverse health effects, indicating that the natural occurrence of rural dust is not a significant health issue. H.R. 1633 recognizes these factors, and excludes naturally occurring dust in rural areas from EPA regulation. Should significant evidence of adverse health effects from rural dust be developed, the bill would allow EPA to respond accordingly. “
-Rick Krause, American Farm Bureau Federation
“Representative Noem’s Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act is a common sense approach to the EPA’s regulation of dust and provides the certainty that farmers need. People from urban areas don’t seem to get it. I don’t want to see South Dakota farmers dealing with the dust regulations like they already do in Arizona. Farmers need this bill to pass so they can continue providing our country and the world with a reliable and nutritious food supply.”
-Walt Bones, South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
“When you see the plume of dirt behind a tractor from plowing your field, the EPA calls the dust kicked up PM10 or coarse particulate matter. Whether you call it PM10 or farm dust, that dust IS regulated by the EPA. That is a fact. I’m offended that some choose to mock this real issue that affects me and my family, and farmers across America, instead of being part of the solution. On my farm in Arizona, I am already being regulated for dust from my farm because of EPA’s current standards. That is why the bill, the Farm Dust Regulation Act, is needed to provide producers certainty against these ridiculous federal regulations. All EPA has to do is set up a monitor near a farm in South Dakota for them to have the same problem I do. We are only asking for a little common sense on this issue.”
-Kevin Rogers, President, Arizona Farm Bureau Federation
The South Dakota Soybean Association strongly opposes any effort by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or judicial ruling to regulate dust whether from crop or livestock production as a pollutant. “Our organization, which represents the Soybean Farmers of South Dakota, supports the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 to insure common sense prevails and farmers are protected from future efforts to regulate particulate matter, which is a common occurrence in everyday rural farm life.” -Chris Fischbach, President, South Dakota Soybean Association
“SDCA continues to support Representative Noem’s legislation, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act, to prohibit EPA from regulating dust. We thank her for continuing to push for passage of H.R. 1633 to provide farmers and ranchers with regulatory certainty on this issue.”
- Bill Slovek President, Executive Director, South Dakota Cattlemen's Association
“The current EPA claims they won’t further regulate farm dust. If that is true, they should back up their words by action and publically support Representative Noem’s bill. We need this legislation to clarify that statement and codify in law that EPA won’t regulate farm dust, now or in the future. The ag community can’t afford more regulatory uncertainty.”
-Brenda Forman, Executive Director, South Dakota Association of Cooperatives
“The EPA often bases decisions on precautionary principles instead of sound science. Representative Noem’s bill seeks to provide the certainty that farmers in South Dakota have asked for. This is just one of EPA’s many haphazard rules based on shaky science and I’m happy she is pushing this bill on behalf of South Dakota famers.”
-Rick Vallery, Executive Director, South Dakota Wheat Inc/South Dakota Oilseeds Council
“The South Dakota Stock Growers Association supports H.R. 1633, a common sense based approach to dust that removes an undue burden on ranchers, farmers, and their local communities by requiring EPA to distinguish between urban dust and farm dust.”
-Kenny Fox, Immediate Past President, South Dakota Stock Growers Association
“Stopping government over regulating is something we always support” said Gary Duffy, President, South Dakota Corn Growers Association