[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3065]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          EPA ``DUST'' POLICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, ``Houses were shut tight, and cloth 
wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it 
could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs 
and tables, on the dishes.''
  Ma and Pa Joad did everything they could to save their farm from 
slipping away into the dust bowl, but ultimately they lost to a force 
far greater than any effort they could muster.
  Mr. Speaker, though this is just one line ripped from the pages of 
``The Grapes of Wrath,'' farmers and ranchers today are facing a modern 
day dust storm--the wrath of the EPA. Just when you think you've heard 
it all, bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. come up with some hair-brained 
idea that leaves you scratching your head in wonderment.
  The Environmental Protection Agency has apparently run out of things 
to regulate and tax so they are considering new guidelines for 
regulating ``particulate matter emissions''--more commonly known to you 
and me as ``dust.''
  Now, I know what you are thinking, this just cannot be true. What 
kind of crazy scheme is this?
  Well, the EPA ``Dust Police'' would specifically regulate farm dust. 
Farmers would be required to have dust collectors on their harvesters, 
planters, combines, and haying equipment.
  But my personal favorite is the crackdown on dust created from 
driving a pickup truck down a dirt or gravel road. I am not making this 
up. The Federal Government is considering farm dust regulations that 
are caused from driving on a dirt road.
  So I thought, well, maybe this is just some backdoor attempt to rid 
America of our majestic four-wheel-drive pickups that liberals loathe 
so much and find some way to force these battery-operated toy cars on 
the rest of us.
  But the new proposals don't just apply to dust created from driving. 
No, they are fair and they are balanced in their overreaching 
authority. Farmers and ranchers are going to have to somehow limit the 
dust created by livestock on their property as well.
  So, say Bessie the cow kicks up too much dust running over to your 
pickup truck at feeding time. The EPA is going to fine you for Bessie's 
misconduct. You need to move your cattle to another pasture during the 
daytime? Well, don't do it on a dry day because they may kick up too 
much dust.
  The Dust Police solution is to manage dusty dirt roads with water, 
or--get this--pave them with asphalt. Now, this is another can of 
worms.
  Every farmer and rancher will have the ``Water Police'' raining down 
on them by the time the first drop hits the dirt. I would think EPA 
would be aware of the fact that we already have a shortage of water on 
ranches and farms in our country. But make no matter to them, they 
still want you to control it.
  And what about this paving the asphalt over these roads? Really, they 
can't be serious. Aside from the sheer magnitude of this undertaking, 
the idea is completely unfeasible and it's cost prohibitive.
  The absurdity of these types of Federal regulations is what makes 
normal Americans all across our country frustrated with Washington, 
D.C.
  I will say there is a little good news on the horizon. We're not all 
out of touch here in Congress. My colleague, Representative Kristi Noem 
from South Dakota, filed an amendment to the continuing resolution last 
week to eliminate funding to the EPA to enforce the dust regulations. 
I'm proud to say that this passed the House of Representatives, and 
it's now down the hallway with the Senate. Let's see what they do.
  This type of Federal meddling is exactly what causes businesses to go 
out of business, lay off workers, and in many cases fail. These types 
of expensive regulations will finally shut the barn door on the 
American rancher and farmer for good.
  I understand that dust may seem like a serious threat to someone who 
has never been outside the EPA's marble Potomac palaces or elite 
castles of academia. But let's use some common sense here. Farmers and 
ranchers are the best environmentalists in our country. No one respects 
the land or animals more than those who actually live on it and depend 
on it for a living.
  Instead of burying us in ridiculous regulations that do nothing to 
improve the quality of life or the environment, the government should 
look for incentives to encourage farmers and ranchers to produce more, 
not less. We don't need the EPA-inflicted dust bowl to devastate the 
American heartland.
  The EPA should just head on down the road and leave this regulation 
in the dust.
  And that's just the way it is.

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