Congressman Doc Hastings

Washington, Oct 1 -

In addition to my position as the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, I also serve as co-chair of the Rural American Solutions Group.  This group was formed to address the unique challenges facing farmers, ranchers and small businesses throughout rural America. Recently, we held a forum to examine the impact of new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on job creation and economic growth.

At the forum, experts representing water users, agriculture, manufacturing, ranching, and others all had the same story to tell: the EPA has targeted rural America and their impending regulations could kill thousands of rural jobs and harm communities across the country. 

Once an agency with relatively limited scope, the EPA has ballooned into a $10 billion entity with over 17,000 employees. According to the Congressional Research Service, from January 2009 to June 2010 there have been 653 finalized EPA rules and 463 proposed EPA rules.  That’s over 1100 new rules in just 17 months.

What those who control Congress have been unable to accomplish through legislation - like a cap-and-trade national energy tax or unattainable farm dust standards - the EPA has sought to address through new onerous regulations.  For example, there is proposed legislation that would expand the Clean Water Act to allow EPA to regulate backyard mud puddles and irrigation canals.  The EPA has also proposed a new zero-risk standard for spray drift.  Currently, the use of pesticides is permitted when it does not pose an “unreasonable adverse effect.”  The new policy would ban the use of pesticides if it results in spray drift “that could cause an adverse effect.”  These new regulations have left many wondering whether the EPA really stands for “Eliminate Private Agriculture.”  

It’s time for EPA to ease its iron grip on rural communities and start listening to those who would actually be impacted.  What make sense to government officials in Washington, D.C. may not work for irrigators or farmers here in Central Washington. 

At a time when stabilizing the economy must be the number one priority,  the EPA should not impose new top-down policies that will kill jobs, raise taxes, hurt small businesses, and slow economic recovery.  Congress must start holding the EPA accountable and oppose these burdensome regulations that are threatening our agriculture based economy.