Bill to Prevent Farm Dust Regulation Passes the House

Press Release

Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011. This bill temporarily prohibits the EPA for one year from proposing, finalizing, implementing, or enforcing any regulation revising dust standards. It also limits the EPA regulation of nuisance dust to areas where it is not regulated under state, tribal, or local law, where nuisance dust causes substantial adverse effects, and where the benefits of federal regulation outweigh the costs. The EPA and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson have sent mixed messages about regulating dust.

"It's not just current regulations that present problems for our farmers and ranchers, it's also the proposed or even just discussed regulations that have them concerned," Congressman Huelskamp said after the bill passed. "The idea that you can regulate dust on a windy Western Kansas farm is neither practical nor even possible! If a regulation like this were to emerge fully, it would be yet another example of an unknowledgeable and disconnected EPA. Opponents of this legislation can criticize us for pushing the bill, but the House's efforts are an important preventative measure to keep the EPA from undermining the profitability of American agriculture in yet another way."

Congressman Huelskamp cosponsored HR 1633. Additionally, Congressman Huelskamp has introduced the Freeing Agriculture to Reap More (FARM) Act, which, among other things, would prohibit EPA regulation of dust.

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