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Beef Buzz News

EPA Calls Dust a Four Letter Word- Wants to Control It and Anyone that Kicks It Up

In the latest step in its review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the foundation for unprecedented regulation of dust. According to EPA's Second Draft Policy Assessment for Particulate Matter (PM), issued late last week, EPA may consider regulating coarse PM at levels as low as 65-85 µg/m3, twice as stringent as the current standard. Both the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Farm Bureau are raising alarms in farm and ranch country about this latest push by the EPA to actively oppose farmers and ranchers from being allowed to do their everyday work out in the country- especially in drier areas of the US.


We have comments from Ron Gaskill of the American Farm Bureau that make up today's Beef Buzz on the subject(Click on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this page)- and the following comments are from a news release from the NCBA on this same subject:





"It would be virtually impossible for many critical U.S. industries to comply with this standard, even with use of best-management practices to control dust," said Tamara Thies, NCBA chief environmental counsel. "All of us certainly want healthy air for our communities, but this is nothing more than the everyday dust kicked up by a car driving down a dirt road, and it has long been found to be of no health concern at ambient levels."



Because of the high dust levels found in arid climates, many critical western industries have a difficult time meeting the current standard of 150 µg/m3. In some of these areas, "no-till" days have already been proposed for agriculture, severely hindering farmers' ability to maintain productive operations.



"Farmers could be fined for everyday activities like driving a tractor down a dirt road or tilling a field," said Thies. "It would effectively bring economic growth and development to a halt in many areas of the country."



If EPA regulates dust at the level of 65-85 µg/m3, areas across the country would be classified as "nonattainment," forcing states to impose extreme dust-control requirements on businesses across the board.



"The current PM standard was set conservatively low based on historically flawed health studies," Thies continued. "EPA itself acknowledges the current standard was based on a desire to be cautious, and not on clear evidence that this very stringent level was necessary to protect against adverse public health effects. This is especially true for the type of rural dust predominantly found in agricultural and other resource-based operations."



The policy assessment is the latest step in EPA's ongoing review of the PM NAAQS, as required every five years under the Clean Air Act. The document will serve as the basis of EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee's (CASAC) consideration about whether to revise the current PM standard. CASAC is scheduled to discuss the document on July 26.



The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.




   
   

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