Written by
PHILIP BRASHER
Checking the wind. If it’s too high, he’s required to park his tractors and combines for the day to keep from kicking up dust that’s long been a major cause of air pollution in the Phoenix area.
Republicans in Congress claim that farmers in the Midwest could face similar restrictions if the Obama administration tightens national limits on how much dust can be in the air.
“It’s a difficult thing when the government is in the middle of everything we’re doing,” said Rogers, who farms 7,000 acres outside Phoenix and owns interests in partnerships that have collected millions of dollars in cotton and grain subsidies over the past decade.
“It affects our operation daily, just the fact that I have to go out and evaluate what’s going on” with the wind, he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t proposed any change in its standards, nor are communities in the Midwest in danger of violating current standards. But the dust issue has become a major feature in GOP efforts to blame the nation’s economic stagnation on excessive government regulations. Democrats say it’s a phony issue being used to influence rural voters.
EPA spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara said the agency is still reviewing its dust regulations but has “no plans to put stricter standards in place.”
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to evaluate its standards for dust and other forms of particulate matter every five years and to tighten them if necessary to protect public health. Studies have linked particle pollution to a number of health problems, including asthma, chronic bronchitis and heart attacks.
The EPA sets limits for particulate matter, depending on the size of the particles, which are classified as coarse and fine. Farm dust includes both — particles of dirt as well as microscopic bits of manure and farm chemicals.
A federal appeals court in 2009 turned down an appeal by farm groups for an exemption from dust regulations.
The Midwest is nowhere near reaching the current limits, which for coarse particulate matter is 150 micrometers per cubic meter of air. An area is allowed to exceed that once in a three-year period. Average annual maximum levels at locations such as Sioux City, Ia., and Brookings, S.D., typically vary between 60 and 80 micrograms, though dust pollution in the Brookings area spiked at 120 micrograms in 2008, according to EPA data.
Areas in Arizona and California, including the smoggy and heavily agricultural San Joaquin Valley, have been in violation of the standards for years, which is why growers like Rogers now face restrictions on how they farm.
The problem for farmers in the Midwest, according to Republicans, is that an EPA study issued in April suggests the agency would be justified in reducing the limit for dust as low as 65 micrograms.
“It makes no sense to regulate the dust coming out of a combine harvesting soybeans or the dust off a gravel road of a pickup truck traveling into town,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia., who recently joined Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., in introducing a bill to block the EPA from regulating farm dust. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., has been leading a similar effort in the House.
But Janice Nolen, who has followed the issue for the American Lung Association, said that while standards need to be tightened, the EPA is unlikely to do anything that would have an impact on Midwest farms. The 150-microgram limit for coarse particles could be cut as low as 85 micrograms, but the agency also would likely offset that change by allowing that level to be exceeded more often than it does now, she said.
“It’s really not going to mean any additional areas are identified as having unhealthy air,” she said.
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said the dust regulation is a “false issue” that Republicans are using to “scare people, farmers in particular.”
The agency, which has been attacked by Republicans on a range of issues in addition to the dust regulations, recently announced that it was setting aside new regulations on ozone until at least 2013 and announced Thursday that it would miss a Sept. 30 deadline for issuing rules for greenhouse gas emissions.
Grassley and Johanns wrote EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Thursday asking for a letter endorsing their bill barring regulation of farm dust. Such a statement would “provide much-needed certainty” to farmers, the senators wrote. Under the bill, the farm exemption is intended to apply to farmers who already have been regulated, said Johanns spokesman Steve Wymer.
The agency’s assurances that it doesn’t intend to impose new dust regulations on farmers don’t go far enough, because the EPA also has issued statements saying that it can’t exempt farm dust from its limits, Wymer said.
Regions found to be violating the particulate limits are given time to come up with plans for reducing the pollution. In the Phoenix area, farmers must pick from several options for curbing dust from their operations. Those measures include parking the tractor when the wind is blowing harder than 20 mph, putting gravel on roads and limiting the number of times a field is tilled.
Among the measures Rogers selected was to park his tractor on windy days, which happen several times a year, he said. “It’s been a great inconvenience and it shouldn’t have to be that way,” he said.
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