Duane A. Lienemann UNL Extension Educator,
Webster County
December 1, 2011 Edition Well, it seems that Old Man Winter has found us, or at least my bones tell me that. The good news is that we made it into December before he remembered where we were. The thought of chilling weather and snow brings me to something that I thought would be a really cold day in a very hot place when Congress would actually try to do something that counteracts the cloud of continual regulations and threats of new regulations that always seemed to be aimed at small businesses and agriculture. It seems that we are always besieged with things like “cow flatulence” regulations, carbon caps, CAFA & AFO rules, even milk spill regulations. One that has been concerning me over the last several years is the so called “particulates” or “dust” regulations that really looked like it would hit us. Finally some good news and it is just in time for Christmas.
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy voted in support of H.R. 1633, the “Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011”. The legislation passed through the full committee with, believe it or not, bipartisan support and will head to the full House of Representatives for a vote. The act would do multiple things to ensure clean air while also providing regulatory certainty for farm and ranch families in that the legislation recognizes that dust from agricultural activities has never been shown to have a health impact at ambient level and would exempt farm dust from the existing Clean Air Act ---unless the administrator of the EPA can prove it is a significant problem, and that applying the standard is worth the costs. It also gives states and localities the rightful authority in regulating dust, which is and should be a local issue, not a Federal one. We all know that areas of the country are very different and local and state governments must be allowed to set policies that make sense not some environmentalist in Washington DC. The Federal Government and/or EPA’s “one-size-fits-all” mentality is neither practical nor scientific, so this is very good news in the making.
I see this as a common sense bill. Allowing federal agencies to continue regulating farmers and ranchers to the point of no return is counterproductive and this has the chance to bring some accountability to regulatory agencies. Now if H.R. 1633 passes the House, it will move to the Senate, where it was introduced by our Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns and Charles Grassley from Iowa. It will likely have a more difficult time passing in the Senate, so it is imperative that each of us contact our Congressmen in favor of this act, and then if and more likely when it passes the House, and goes to the Senate that we then contact our Senators and encourage them to do the same. While you are on the phone or computer, you might also mention a partner legislation that goes one step further.
Congress is expected to consider a bill, sometime in the very near future, which is intended to ensure that U.S. regulatory agencies do not impose unjustified costs on job creators during a time when the U.S. economy can least afford it. The Regulatory Accountability Act, H.R. 3010 as proposed will help protect farmers, ranchers, and small businesses from overzealous regulatory factions within the government. The bipartisan bill is part of an ongoing effort to limit new federal regulations that several agricultural state Congressmen feel are detrimental to growth of the economy.
Sponsoring House Representatives are concerned about new or proposed regulations that they believe will have a negative impact on the agriculture industry because of the time and cost required for compliance. One of the selling points is something I have been saying for quite some time. It has been proven in many cases that interest groups try to use regulations to interpret the law in their best interest, instead of following the intent of the law which is usually disastrous to entities like farming. The bill is designed to bring transparency and accountability to the regulatory process. That means that we, the American people, will be allowed to have a voice in these policy decisions. Some more common sense!
A recent gallop poll indicated that one in three U.S. small business owners are worried about going out of business and almost always it has to do with impending regulations or uncertainty about regulations. It is especially important that in the midst of this fragile economy that we give every chance to improve economic opportunities not saddle business or farms with more regulations. H.R. 3010 ensures that regulators do their due diligence. If you are so inclined you can read it all for yourself at http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/092211_APAbill_001_xml.pdf /.
The bipartisan effort is the first of its kind in more than a decade to reform and minimize regulations that stifle economic growth. The Regulatory Accountability Act places permanent restrictions on regulatory agencies and restores accountability by requiring openness and transparency in the regulatory process. It requires agencies to assess both the costs and benefits of regulations and possible alternatives. What really stands out to me as that it also requires that agencies do a better job of determining what regulations are needed before implementing new rules. Gosh, what a novel idea! Finally some common sense is showing its face in Washington DC. Call your Congressman and thank them and then encourage them to pass it!
This is a chance to take a very big monkey off of production agriculture’s back. Never before have we had so much going on with these bills and acts, and more recently the Child Labor Law regulations that I hope many of you responded to. I hope that each of you have become known on a first name basis with your Senator or Representative office in Washington DC. The business or farm that you save may be your own!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for WebsterCounty in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the !website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/me
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