The Patriot-News: Red Tape, Regulations Leave Farmers Plowed Under

Op-Ed

By Senator Patrick Toomey

Today on National Agriculture Day, I hope we'll all take a moment to celebrate and appreciate the hard work of Pennsylvania's farmers.

With more than 63,000 farms, agriculture is one of Pennsylvania's largest industries and a major job creator. From chicken and dairy farms to mushroom and apple growers, our farmers put food on our tables and play a critical role in our statewide economy.

Throughout my first year in office, I have visited many farms and met with dozens of farmers to get their firsthand take on the challenges they are facing.

Their message has been clear and unambiguous - Washington's deluge of new regulations is impeding the growth and success of our farms. All too often, the bureaucrats in Washington are oblivious to the real-world implications of their actions. There is a growing bipartisan consensus that we should be pushing back against these excesses wherever we can.

For instance, I am working with Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on an amendment to the highway bill to rid farmers of unnecessary paperwork requirements when they move heavy equipment and haul their products short distances to market.
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The U.S. Transportation Department has demanded that states regulate farm vehicles much like they regulate long-haul truckers. If a farmer wants to use his truck to haul supplies across the street, he now has to keep time-consuming and complicated records. Our amendment makes clear that states should decide what's best for their farmers and citizens, not bureaucrats in Washington.

This is the same principle my colleagues and I have conveyed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with regard to the Chesapeake Bay program. The EPA has devised a massive new regulatory framework to micromanage the nutrient and sediment runoff from Pennsylvania farms and other sources within the watershed.

I share the EPA's desire to have healthy, vibrant waterways, but the agency needs to be a cooperative partner, not an overbearing regulator. Many of its actions, from inspecting individual farms to fining individual municipalities for not having the proper maps and local ordinances, are a red flag that the agency is behaving too aggressively.

I will continue to press the cases of Pennsylvania farmers with the EPA as this process unfolds and will seek legislative remedies as necessary.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the U.S. Labor Department recently issued new rules regulating the types of work that children can do on their families' farms. To put this rule in context, 99 percent of Pennsylvania's farms are family owned and operated, and this new rule will impede their ability to operate.

The premise of this rule is offensive to me.

We can all agree to disagree on the degree to which the federal government chooses to regulate our roads and waterways, but the federal government has no business dictating to parents how to raise their children. It belies an ideology that not only believes in an ever larger government, but an ideology that says government always knows best - even when it comes to our own families.

I am glad the agency is revisiting part of the proposed regulation amid the bipartisan uproar, but I won't give up this fight until this new rule is officially wiped from the books.

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the regulatory iceberg for Pennsylvania's farmers. Regulations such as these abound, and they are making it harder for farmers to stay in business.

That's why I have recently launched a public-service campaign called "Had Enough?" to help Pennsylvanians find solutions to government excess and overregulation. Through my "Had Enough?" website at www.toomey.senate.gov/hadenough, farmers and all Pennsylvanians can share with me details of their experiences with unreasonable red tape and excessive regulation.

I'll take their advice to Washington and work with my colleagues in the Senate to fight against excessive government. For the sake of our farm families and Pennsylvania's economy, this is a fight we cannot afford to lose.

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