[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY RELIEF ACT OF 1996

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. THOMAS W. EWING

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 1996

  Mr. EWING. Madam Speaker, today the U.S. House of Representatives 
acted to protect farmers, farm retailers, many small businesses, and 
State's rights from potentially onerous regulations currently being 
proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is unfortunate 
that some proponents of ``big government'' and Washington, DC 
bureaucracies feel the need to preempt State laws and impose one-size-
fits-all regulations on businesses and activities that have operated 
safely and efficiently for years without Federal regulation. Passage of 
H.R. 3153 was a victory for the ``common sense'' 104th Congress.
  In its present form, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research 
and Special Programs Administration's HM-200 rule-making would 
supersede every State exception granted to the agriculture industry for 
transfer of agricultural production materials, such as pesticides, 
fertilizers, and fuel from retail-to-farm and from farm-to-farm. In 
fact, this issue is so important to agriculture that 49 Members of 
Congress and 44 farm and agribusiness organizations endorsed corrective 
legislation that I introduced along with Representatives Buyer, 
Poshard, and Barcia, H.R. 4102, the Farm Transportation Regulatory 
Relief Act.
  Although the agricultural production materials provisions contained 
in Section 4 of H.R. 3153 are not as comprehensive as the 
recommendations contained in H.R. 4102, the bipartisan agreement 
contained in H.R. 3153 would provide relief for farmers and retailers, 
and allow States to continue to do exactly what they are doing now, 
until after Congress has a chance to review DOT's final rule. This 
section would exempt agricultural production materials from DOT's final 
intrastate regulations until after Congress passes a reauthorization of 
the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Act, or through the 1998 
planting season.
  State governments realize that agriculture has unique needs and 
operates under critical seasonal time pressures. There is no need to 
impose uniform hazardous materials transportation standards on not-for-
hire intrastate transportation of agricultural chemicals and materials. 
Burdening farmers with costly and unnecessary bureaucratic requirements 
like having to placard their trucks, carry shipping documents, and 
provide a 24-hour emergency response phone number will only impede 
farmers' ability to efficiently plant and care for their crops. It will 
not improve safety on rural roads!
  I would particularly like to thank Mr. Buyer, Mr. Poshard, Mr. 
Barcia, and Majority Whip DeLay for their support and hard work to 
ensure farmers and retailers are protected from DOT's unnecessary and 
burdensome regulations. Farmers are primarily small business people, 
who work extremely hard to make ends meet. They care about their 
safety, the safety of others, and the environment. I hope DOT will 
reevaluate its opinion of agriculture, and its unique transportation 
needs; however, if they do not, I am prepared to continue to work with 
my colleagues to ensure Congress takes the necessary action to 
permanently protect production agriculture from these unnecessary and 
bureaucratic regulations.

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