Ranchers alarmed
by strict limits on particulate matter

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

Livestock groups and lawmakers are assailing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal to halve the level of dust allowed at farms and other businesses.

Issued this month, the EPA's Second Draft Policy Assessment for Particulate Matter could result in allowable coarse PM levels as low as 65 to 85 micrograms per cubic meter -- about half the 150 micrograms per cubic meter currently allowed under the EPA's air quality standards.

The lower level would be virtually unsustainable for many U.S. industries -- particularly in arid climates such as in parts of the West, where dust levels are high, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association complains.

"Are we going to have no-till days or no-farming days because of dust?" said Dave Warner, spokesman for the National Pork Producers Council. "Are you going to have to water your fields? I don't know. Plus there's whatever may be coming off of the barns because they do have fans to keep the pigs cool."

Twenty U.S. senators led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter July 23 urging EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to use restraint when it comes to future regulations on dust.

They cited the Obama administration's focus on rural America, arguing that stringent dust regulations would negatively impact rural businesses.

"We respect efforts for a clean and healthy environment, but not at the expense of common sense," the senators wrote. "These identified levels will be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers to attain. Whether it's livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day in the fall, or driving a car down the gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event."

Producers could face fines for exceeding the PM standards even while using good management practices on their soils, the senators argued.

The policy statement was issued as part of a review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which the EPA is required to conduct every five years under the Clean Air Act.

In reevaluating its standards, the agency is relying on studies that have indicated the cap for dust could be as low as 12 to 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Farm groups have challenged the EPA's authority to regulate dust in court, but a federal appellate court rejected their arguments last year.

The document issued July 8 will serve as a basis for a committee's consideration of whether to revise the current standard for pollutants. Final rules could be enacted next year.

Online

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa: http://grassley.senate.gov/