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Monday, October 17, 2011

EPA chief tries again to quash farm-dust myth; episode illustrates how issues can be framed

Despite repeated denials from the Environmental Protection Agency that it intends to regulate farm dust, a Republican-sponsored bill to ban such regulation is steadily gaining support in Congress and was heard before a House committee Friday. Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota calls the flap a "made-up controversy" being used by some Republican legislators as a scare tactic, reports Tom Lawrence of The Daily Republic in Mitchell, S.D.

The House version of the bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, who says the intention is to block EPA from enacting "detrimental regulations," reports Ken Anderson of Brownfield Network. The bill would prohibit the EPA from revising national primary and secondary ambient air quality standards that protect both humans and environment from harmful air pollution. It would also exempt nuisance dust, which includes farm dust, from the Clean Air Act.

The bill seems to stem from a draft recommendation by EPA for stricter standards for particulate matter, some of which is found in farm dust, and a letter from an EPA official that was not fully responsive to farmers' concerns about it. (Read more, from Politico) The bill may have also been born from a 2009 court decision confirming the agency's authority to regulate farm dust and its attempts to do so in Maricopa County (Phoenix), Ariz., after it was determined the county failed to limit dust to allowable levels. Huge dust storms have recently occurred there. EPA also regulates farm dust only where the air is out of compliance with standards. (Read more) But when a farmer asked President Obama about the issue a few weeks ago, the president referred him to the Department of Agriculture, not EPA, giving the appearance of a runaround that probably increased skepticism.

Some news outlets have swallowed Republican claims whole and ignored EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's denials, running headlines such as "EPA to crack down on farm dust." Mike McGraw of The Kansas City Star did a clarifying story last week, about the time the issue prompted Senate Democrats to change a key precedent to keep the issue from coming to a vote.

Today EPA released letters from Jackson to senators saying the agency would not try to regulate dust created by agriculture, Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press reports. Sen. Mike Johanns, sponsor of the Senate bill, said he would not offer it as an amendment to an apppropriations bill this week. "EPA has finally provided what I've been asking for all along," Johanns said. "Unequivocal assurance that it won't attempt to regulate farm dust." (Read more) Jackson's move prompted headlines like The Des Moines Register's "EPA says it won't regulate farm dust," as if it ever planned to. That shows how issues can be framed when one side is more skillful than the other and journalists aren't careful.

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