Myths about the EPA

Washington Ag Today March 16, 2011 Spilled milk. Cow emissions. Zero spray drift. Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, says those are all the subject of myths about what the agency is going to regulate. In a recent appearance before a congressional committee Jackson addressed what she called fictions pushed by special interests, one of which is the notion the EPA intends to treat spilled milk the same way as spilled oil.

Jackson: “This is simply incorrect. Rather EPA is on the verge of finalizing an exemption for milk and dairy containers. This exemption needed to be finalized because the law passed by Congress was written broadly enough to cover milk containers. It was our work with the dairy industry that prompted EPA to develop an exemption and to make sure the standards of the law are met in a common sense. All of EPA‘s actions have been to exempt these containers and we expect this to become final very shortly.”

Another myth said Jackson is that EPA intends to regulate the emission from cows, the so called cow tax.

Jackson: “The truth is EPA is proposing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a responsible manner and we have even exempted agricultural sources from regulations.”

The EPA administrator also said the agency has no plans to expand regulation of dust from farms though she acknowledged there is a review underway of pollutants as required by the Clean Air Act. Jackson also told the congressional committee that EPA does not support a no spray drift policy.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.