EPA, Dust & Oil Don’t Mix

A bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from burdening farmers and small business owners in rural America with additional dust regulations has been introduced in Congress and enjoys bipartisan support.

The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 seeks to reduce unnecessary regulations on farmers and small businesses in rural areas to create a better environment for job creation and economic growth.

This bill develops a two prong approach to preventing the EPA from regulating dust in rural America while still maintaining the protections of the Clean Air Act to the public’s health and welfare.

First, it provides immediate relief to farmers and rural areas by preventing revision of the current dust standard for one year from date of enactment. Second, it provides flexibility for states and localities to regulate “nuisance dust.” If there is no state or local regulation in place, the EPA must determine that the type of dust or particulate matter in question causes adverse health effects and that the benefits of further EPA regulation outweigh the costs to the local and regional communities, including economic and employment impacts.

Deputy Environmental Counsel for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Ashley Lyon said the EPA has shown no cost-effective way to reduce farm dust. And while the real purpose is to go after urban dust, Lyon said doubling the stringency of the standard would put much of rural America into non-attainment.

Lyon said EPA could propose a rule as early as June despite reported claims by Administrator Lisa Jackson that the whole farm dust issue is a myth.

If the EPA’s dust regulations are not enough to elevate your blood pressure, this week with pump prices pushing $4 a gallon Shell Oil announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight. ◆