A meeting this week between EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee unleashed a flood of member press releases all touting how they told the agency head what's wrong with water, greenhouse gas and other EPA rulemakings.

 

Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS), running for reelection, accused EPA of "unfairly targeting farmers, ranchers and rural America with burdensome regulations." "Kansans tell me the agency's work to regulate fuel storage tanks, prescribed burning of the Flint Hills prairie, cap and trade, pesticide limits, fugitive dust, and our water resources, is an assault on our way of life," he said. Roberts went on to allow the "rocky relationship" between agriculture and EPA isn't new, but the latest round of proposed rules "makes many people believe the rules are driven by an anti-agriculture agenda that is hurting the Kansas economy."

 

When it came to the EPA proposed rulemaking on "waters of the U.S. (WOTUS)," Roberts said he was disturbed to hear the agency dismiss producer concerns as "myths," and was disappointed McCarthy wasn't persuaded by meetings held two weeks ago in Missouri that the rulemaking carries "far-reaching and negative impacts." Roberts has cosponsored legislation to block the rulemaking.

 

Sen. Charles Grassley (R, IA) reiterated his opposition to the WOTUS rulemaking, and seconded Roberts' contention that EPA is perceived as operating with "an unhelpful approach and general negative attitude toward agriculture." He said the meeting did little to alleviate his concerns the agency routinely doesn't listen to those most impacted by its rulemakings.

 

Going after both WOTUS and EPA's greenhouse gas/carbon capture rulemakings on power plants, Sen. Thad Cochran (R, MS), also up for reelection, announced after the McCarthy meeting he would cosponsor a resolution citing "a litany of faults with EPA's ongoing effort to finalize regulations on carbon emissions." He said the agency's efforts have "zero chance" of altering world climate trends.

 

On the WOTUS rulemaking, Cochran said, "The...proposal and the agriculture interpretive rule are a source of uncertainty, anxiety and distrust for people in rural areas...and this is particularly true in states like Mississippi whose economies are built on agriculture production; landowners want peace of mind that what they're doing is not going to be subject to more regulations."

 

Twenty-two national and state groups, including several state grain and feed associations, this week sent a joint letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack laying out their concerns with "periodic disruptions" of official Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) grain inspection and weighing services in the Pacific Northwest.

 

"Our expanded stakeholder interest group now understands that on July 1, 2014, the designated agency (Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA)) provided written notification it was withdrawing official grain inspection services at the Port of Vancouver, WA, effective July 7, 2014," the group wrote. "Based upon this unprecedented development, we urge the FGIS take immediate action to provide official inspections services utilizing either its own personnel or the personnel of another FGIS-designated agency authorized to perform such official services at grain export facilities."

 

Last October the groups warned USDA to develop "contingency plans" to ensure FGIS services were not disrupted in the region, and that the agency could respond "immediately and effectively" of there were continued disruptions from contract services provided by WSDA. All grain exported from the U.S. must be officially inspected and carry official certificates showing the official grade designation and weight.

 

"We believe WSDA's (unprecedented) actions create an extremely troubling precedent that will cause irreparable damage to the integrity and reliability of the nation's official grain inspection system," the group letter said. The groups further said the disruptions in the Pacific Northwest have already jeopardized the U.S.'s reputation as a reliable supplier of grains and oilseeds to overseas customers.

Groups signing the letter included the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the American Soybean Assn. (ASA), the Agricultural Retailers Assn. (RTA), the National Corn Growers Assn. (NCGA), the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), the National Oilseed Processors Assn. (NOPA), the North American Export Grain Assn. (NAEGA), the U.S Grains Council, U.S. Wheat Associates, and state groups from Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington.

 

With both House and Senate failure to pass all 12 FY2015 appropriations bills, the battle is on to cobble together a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government operating past September 30. Both chambers' appropriations committees are also wrestling with an unexpected emergency supplemental spending bill, and have also quietly begun work on an omnibus spending package for the coming fiscal year to be dealt with during the post-election lame duck session.

 

House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) said this week his chamber will not take up the CR until the House returns from its August summer recess. And while members of the House and Senate continue to say all the right public things about the appropriations process and moving individual bills this year, it's known staff is crafting an omnibus bill and most if not all FY2015 spending bills will be part of the package to be taken up in the lame duck session.

 

Chief among the culprits blamed for the deadlock on spending broadly is the emergency supplemental spending bill requested by the President to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants into Texas and other matters. Since most of the undocumented workers are minors, both chambers are willing to spend more money on dealing with the crisis, but solutions, amounts and duration of the assistance remainundecided.

 

Complicating the debate is Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D, MD), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who insists her bill will be an emergency spending bill and will carry no policy riders. She's including in the Senate bill $225 million in U.S. aid to Israel to bolster its "Iron Dome" missile defense system, and Mikulski is including $615 million for wildfire management. She finally admitted "she has a full plate, but a flat wallet" and won't be funding the full $3.7 billion the President wants.   

 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (D, KY) opposes the aid to Israel being included in the immigration supplemental spending bill because it puts opponents of the President's immigration plan at odds with their support for Israel.

 

The House supplemental spending package will be about $1.5 billion, what House Appropriations Committee Chair Hall Rodgers (R, KY) said this week "can feasibly and sensibly be spent before the end of the calendar year." The House bill will be paid for by taking end-of-year unspent budget monies from several agencies. There is no wildfire management money or Israeli assistance in the House bill.

 

International Nutrition Co., a livestock feed supplement maker, was cited with 13 violations of federal health and safety regulations after an OSHA investigation of a Omaha facility collapse in January that killed two and injured nine workers. The agency said the collapse was caused by overloading of nine storage bins on the building's roof.

 

The citations include one willful, one repeat and 11 additional safety violations for failing to protect workers from "hazards associated with structural collapse," OSHA said in a press announcement. The agency proposed penalties of $120,560 and placed the company in its "severe violator enforcement program," the agency reported.

 

OSHA said its investigation revealed the failure of an east side truss after bins that it supported were loaded with an "excess of limestone," with the extra weight causing the bins to collapse three floors in 30 seconds into the center of the facility. Other ingredients stored in the roof bins included rice hulls, multiple dry ingredients and solulac.

The Associated Students of UC Davis recently presented its 2013-14 Excellence in Education Awards, one in each undergraduate college, plus educator of the year: Rebekka Andersen, an assistant professor in the University Writing Program. The recipients are Frank Mitloehner, associate professor of animal science; Jay Rosenheim, professor of entomology; Stephen Robinson, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; and Abigail Boggs, a lecturer in American studies. .Congratulations to Frank Mitloehner, Associate Professor of Animal Science for the recent award.

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