Hartzler, Jenkins move to thwart 'fine dust' rules

U.S. Reps. Vicky Hartzler of Harrisonville, Mo., and Lynn Jenkins of Topeka, Kan., say their co-sponsorship of a bill to keep farmers from being fined for stirring up dust was a "common sense" step to protect rural America from out-of-touch bureaucrats.

Passed by the House Thursday on a bipartisan 268-150 vote, the congresswomen said the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act was necessary to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from issuing further air quality regulations on dust for one year.

"It's a push-back on government bureaucracy and the outlandish regulations that keep us from creating jobs and getting the economy going," said Hartzler, who represents Vernon County in Missouri's Fourth District.

"We have sent 27 bills to the Senate this year on runaway regulations while the American people continue making their voices heard that they want us to work together and advance common sense policies to benefit the country."

Noting HR 1633 was sought by the American Farm Bureau and Missouri Farm Bureau, Hartzler said Friday that leading Democrats' criticism was unfounded that the resolution was actually designed to exempt cement plants and coal mines from the Clean Air Act.

"Farmers, ranchers and rural businesses are already subject to costly federal and state requirements to control dust," she said from Harrisonville.

"This bill provides regulatory relief to the people who put food on our tables. All the farm groups were saying the EPA needed to be reined in."

Although EPA Director Lisa Jackson had issued a statement earlier this year in Washington that farm dust would be exempted, Hartzler said, the EPA had taken no formal action to back up Jackson's statement when the agency had formally excused dairies from building containment structures.

President Obama said this week that he will veto the House bill if it is passed by the Senate.

Representing Bourbon County in Kansas' Second District, Jenkins said in a news release that "during my time in Congress it has been abundantly clear that the Beltway types are completely out of touch with the Heartland and especially out of touch with rural agricultural communities.

"The EPA's past attempts to regulate dust caused by unpaved roads, farm equipment and other everyday activities are just another example of this disconnect," Jenkins said.

"The simple fact is that on hot Kansas days, dust is a common and unpreventable part of our lives on farms. The Farm Dust Regulation Act is an important common sense step toward reducing the threat of additional regulations on our farmers, ranchers and rural businesses, and I hope the Senate will act quickly to pass it."