Dust and the EPA

Farm and Ranch August 12, 2010 The Environmental Protection Agency is still considering tightening national air standards for dust, a move strongly opposed by much of agriculture. Ron Gaskill is an air quality specialist with the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Gaskill: “The EPA is suggesting that in coarse dust the agency could either keep the level the same or it even has, because the science is unsubstantiated, could go down to a level half of what it is right now. It suggests the EPA has that much latitude.”

Gaskill says it is impossible for farming and ranching operations to escape such a tough standard, they all produce dust.

Gaskill: “You’ve got mitigation measures that would have to be employed to keep the dust at low levels. We don‘t exactly know what they are right now. But more importantly EPA hasn‘t, even at this point, indicated that there is a serious health hazard with the existing dust situation. So, as far as we are concerned there is no real science at this point to base any kind of decision other than what we are under right now.”

The current air quality standard have been in effect since 2006 and the EPA is required by law to review the National Ambient Air Quality Standards every five years.

The EPA will issue a final policy document in September and a proposed rule by February of 2011. Final action on the issue is expected in October of next year.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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