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NTC STATEMENT BY EPA ADMINISTRATOR CAROL M. BROWNER ON EPA’S NEWLY UPDATED AIR QUALITY STANDARDS FOR OZONE AND PARTICULATE MATTER

Release Date: 07/22/97
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Attached is the statement by EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner on EPA’s newly updated air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter delivered today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

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Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to discuss EPA’s newly updated air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter and the effects they will have on agriculture.

These standards -- which were announced by the President last month and which I signed last week -- are the most significant step we’ve taken in a generation to protect the American people -- and especially our children -- from the health hazards of air pollution.

Together, they will protect 125 million Americans, including 35 million children, from the adverse health effects of breathing polluted air.

They will prevent approximately 15,000 premature deaths, about 350,000 cases of aggravated asthma and nearly a million cases of significantly decreased lung function in children.

Clearly, the best available science shows that the previous standards were not adequately protecting Americans from the hazards of breathing polluted air. Revising these standards will bring enormous health benefits to the nation.

That is why we took action on clean air.

Mr. Chairman, you asked me to come before the Committee today to discuss how these new air quality standards might affect the American farmer.

Let me be as clear and as concise as possible.

These new air quality standards will not require any farmer to change they way he does his job.

EPA is not going to regulate farmers as a means of reducing fine particulates in the air.

We will not restrict tilling. We will not regulate ammonia emissions from animal wastes. And there isn’t going to be any wholesale action against agricultural burning on private lands.

States are not going to target farmers, either.

Why not? Because there is no reason to. It simply isn’t necessary and it wouldn’t be effective.

The fears and concerns we’ve heard about the effects on agriculture have been based on misconceptions and misinformation.

The fact is -- and I have said this time and again -- the reductions needed to meet the new standards will come from large industrial sources, such as major power plants. That is where most of the fine particulates come from.

If agricultural production is any part of the air pollution problem at all, it is, at best, a very small part.

Soil particles are almost always larger than the size of the fine particulates we are regulating for the first time. Because they are stirred up at ground level -- rather than being released high into the air through a smokestack -- soil particles don’t travel very far and do not normally add to air pollution in distant cities.

We found that right here in Washington, DC, for example, that soil particles represent only 5 percent of the fine particulates in the air. And all of that five percent is estimated to come from construction activity and road dust -- and not from farmers.

Even when EPA has monitored for fine particulates in heavy agricultural areas -- not urban areas, but agricultural areas -- soil particles accounted for less than seven percent of the fine particulates being measured.

The fact is, Mr. Chairman, farms are one of the smallest sources of fine particulates in the air. Let me say again -- the biggest sources are major power plants and other large industrial facilities. And it is the large sources that EPA and the states will target as we implement the new air quality standards.

So, it is my hope, Mr. Chairman, that today we can put to rest any fears about the effect of these standards on farmers.

At the same time, let me ask that the Committee take into account the benefits that these standards will have on agriculture in this country.


For example, the new ozone standard addresses a pollutant that is known to inhibit crop production. In other words, ozone is bad for farmers.

Over the past decade, there have been more than 50 scientific studies showing ozone’s significant adverse impacts on yields of wheat, corn, barley, beans, soybeans, cotton and tomatoes. The independent scientific panel that reviewed EPA’s proposed air quality standards unanimously agreed that damage was occurring to crops at levels below what was previously thought acceptable for ozone.

We estimate that the new ozone standard will reduce crop losses by more than a half-billion dollars each year.

Further, the new air quality standards will increase the demand for cleaner-burning gasolines. That’s going to mean a higher demand for ethanol. More good news for farmers.

Mr. Chairman, EPA has a long history of sensitivity to the needs of America’s farmers. Like all Americans, we are deeply appreciative of their vital importance to the nation’s economy, to our food supply, and to our high standard of living.

Farmers are, in so many important respects, the backbone of our country. They are providing some of the nation’s most significant and cost-effective solutions to a wide variety of environmental challenges. And EPA has worked diligently, over many years, not only to avoid unfairly burdening them with anti-pollution regulations, but also to find ways to enhance their economic prospects through environmental initiatives.

Along these lines, we are continuing to work closely with USDA on its Agriculture Air Quality Task Force -- sharing information and exploring matters of concern to the agricultural community.

Soon, Secretary Glickman and I will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between USDA and EPA -- one designed to involve the agricultural community in a cooperative effort to address agriculture-related air quality issues. This, we believe, will be a tremendous help to ensuring that the special concerns and circumstances of Americans farmers are thoroughly considered in development and implementation of air quality standards.

But, most importantly Mr. Chairman, American farmers should know that these newly updated air quality standards will have no detrimental effect on their ability to do their jobs, to support their families and to feed the nation and the world.

That is the bottom line.

That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman. I will be delighted to answer any questions that you or other members of the committee may have.