[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FARM DUST REGULATION PREVENTION ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1633) to 
     establish a temporary prohibition against revising any 
     national ambient air quality standard applicable to coarse 
     particulate matter, to limit Federal regulation of nuisance 
     dust in areas in which such dust is regulated under State, 
     tribal, or local law, and for other purposes:

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Chair, H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention 
Act is another step by the Majority to roll back clean air and water 
laws, and this bill dishes out both injury and insult.
  The injury: Republicans convinced farmers that the EPA was going to 
regulate farm dust (or nuisance dust), a made-up term, not based on 
scientific or medical evidence. The EPA has no plans to regulate farm 
dust. In fact, in October of this year, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson 
confirmed that she does not plan to change current law regarding coarse 
particle emissions, so this bill is completely unnecessary.
  The insult: What this bill does do is exempt particle emissions from 
a wide array of sources including mining operations, cement plants, 
gravel pits and coal processing plants. These sources emit arsenic, 
lead, and mercury among other harmful pollutants and these pollutants 
can cause very serious health problems, including decreased lung 
function, asthma attacks, respiratory diseases, and worse.
  The Energy and Commerce Committee recently received a letter from a 
team of physicians and researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Public 
Health. The experts wrote that this legislation, ``does not account for 
current or future knowledge of health risks posed by rural particulate 
matter exposure, and rather enacts a permanent exemption of rural 
particulate matter from Clean Air Act regulation. This approach is not 
supported by the scientific evidence or good professional judgment, and 
is not scientifically defensible.''
  This bill ignores science, creates harm, and insults farmers.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.