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Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns Archive
Contact:
Heather Vaughan,
The Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns (CCC) is a weekly report from Washington, D.C., giving an up-to-date summary of top policy initiatives concerning the cattle industry; direct from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). Please feel free to reprint in full or in part. If you would like to include NCBA's logo, contact us at 303-694-0305. | |
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The next issue of CCC will be published on January 8, 2009. Happy Holidays!
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Agriculture, Interior Posts Named:
President-elect Barack Obama announced his selections for key cabinet posts for the agricultural community, including former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture and Colorado Senator Ken Salazar for Secretary of the Interior.
We appreciate that President-elect Obama chose to nominate a Secretary of Agriculture who has worked closely with agricultural producers during his time as Governor of Iowa. Agriculture provides more than $8 billion in value added to the economy of Iowa, and cattle and calves are the fourth biggest agricultural commodity in that state. Nationally, cattle and calves are the largest agricultural commodity, valued at about $50 billion. Governor Vilsack understands that America's farmers and ranchers feed our nation and provide significant contributions to our economy.
We've been in close contact with the Obama team throughout the campaign and now the transition. We've been consistently assured that decisions in the Obama Administration will be made based on sound science with a view of the economic impacts of the policy in question. We appreciate that commitment and look forward to sharing the facts about beef and beef production with Governor Vilsack and other agriculture policy advisors to the President-elect. Additionally, we are eager to begin working with Governor Vilsack and the Department of Agriculture on our priority issues for 2009, including expanding trade, enhancing food safety, and leveling the playing field for food and fuel markets.
We're also pleased that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to lead the Department of the Interior. His experience working the land as a farmer and rancher will give him the perspective necessary to balance the many competing demands on our nation's public lands.
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NCBA Meets with Transition Teams at USDA, DOI, and EPA
NCBA President Andy Groseta and Public Lands Council (PLC) President Skye Krebs traveled to Washington this week to meet with President-Elect Barack Obama's transition teams at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
NCBA and PLC officers and staff discussed priority issues for 2009, including environmental regulations, grazing rights, expanded trade, and renewable energy policy.
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Mexico Joins Canada in WTO Consultations on COOL
On December 18, 2008, the Mexican government announced it would join Canada's formal consultations with the U.S. under the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement process on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).
U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico comprise 56 percent of the tonnage (1.04 billion pounds) and 59 percent of the value ($1.827 billion) of our total January-October exports (1.85 billion pounds and $3.1 billion). Canada and Mexico are valued trading partners, and NCBA hopes the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian governments can work together and resolve this issue in a way that doesn't hurt the business climate for U.S. beef producers.
NCBA will closely monitor this situation, and as COOL is implemented in the U.S., we will continue to monitor the effect of COOL on domestic demand for beef. If we determine that COOL is negatively affecting beef producers, we've pledged to work with Congress to alter the law as necessary.
The WTO consultation is a first step that allows the parties to resolve trade disputes through formal discussions. The United States has ten days to reply, but the actual consultation will last for 30 days. If at the end of 30 days the consultations have failed to resolve the issue, the matter can be referred to a WTO dispute settlement panel.
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NCBA Requests Deadline Extension for Compliance with Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Rule
As part of the Agriculture Coalition on Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC), NCBA submitted comments this week to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the dates by which facilities must be in compliance with SPCC plans.
Under the Clean Water Act, farms and ranches are required to prevent discharges of oil into waters of the United States, and to contain those discharges should they occur.
The rule requires farms to have a Facility Response Plan certified by a Professional Engineer that details equipment, workforce, procedures, and training to prevent, control, and provide adequate countermeasures in the event of a discharge of oil. Farms with oil storage capacities of less than 10,000 gallons can self-certify their SPCC plans, rather than employing a Professional Engineer.
In a proposed rule issued on December 5, 2008, the EPA put forth two separate compliance dates for farms. Larger operations with storage capacities exceeding 10,000 gallons must have an SPCC plan in place by November 20, 2009-less than one year from today. Smaller operations are given until November 20, 2010.
Although many industries have been in compliance with SPCC regulations for decades, the regulations were only recently applied to the agricultural community. Many producers are unaware of the requirement to have an SPCC plan. Beyond this educational barrier, most producers have already budgeted for the 2009 fiscal year without planning for the investment necessary to develop and certify an SPCC plan. The early compliance dates the EPA is proposing are both technically and fiscally difficult for producers to meet.
The oil production industry was given a five-year time frame in which to comply with the SPCC regulations.
Given the lack of knowledge of the SPCC rule within the agricultural industry, and EPA's lack of a communication plan for agricultural producers, we believe that our industry should also be given a five-year time line for compliance.
The deadline for comment submission to EPA is December 26, 2008.
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EPA Exempts Ag from Reporting under CERCLA; Requires Large CAFOs to Report under EPCRA
On December 12th, the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) released a final rule requiring large CAFOs to report emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide to state and local emergency responders under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (EPCRA) Law. In the same rulemaking, the EPA exempted all cattle operations from having to report these emissions to the National Response Center under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
While NCBA is pleased that the EPA decided to exempt animal agriculture operations from reporting ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions under CERCLA, we are disappointed that the Agency required that report be filed under EPCRA.
According to the EPA, "The limited exemption under EPCRA resulted from EPA receiving comments on the proposed rule from state and local officials indicating that, although they did not expect to respond to notifications of air releases of hazardous substances from animal waste at farms, some still wished to receive notifications from large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). EPA has addressed these comments by requiring large CAFOs to continue submitting emergency notification reports under EPCRA."
The purpose of the release reporting provisions is to target releases of "hazardous substances" (including ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) that present substantial threats to public health and the environment, and that require immediate emergency response by state and local response officials in order to prevent or minimize their affects. Emissions of these substances from open air cattle operations have never posed an emergency situation that needed responding to, nor can NCBA conceive of a time when such a situation might arise. Therefore, an exemption from reporting these emissions to emergency responders is entirely appropriate. Unfortunately, the EPA bowed to environmental activist pressure and decided to require such reports under EPCRA.
The full rule is available online at http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/epcra/index.htm
NCBA is consulting with our land grant universities that have done research on ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions from cattle operations and are exploring our options, including legal options. NCBA Chief Environmental Counsel Tamara Thies is evaluating and analyzing the final rule and will provide feedback to members as soon as possible.
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DOI Finalizes Section 7 Implementation Regulations for Endangered Species Act
The revised regulation will streamline consultations between agencies, allowing for a more efficient use of limited resources and provide clarity and focus within the agencies. The agencies will maintain their responsibility to enforce the ESA in protecting species.
NCBA and the Public Lands Council (PLC) submitted comments to Fish and Wildlife Service supporting the revised regulations, which will provide a narrow set of improvements that allow for more effective administration of the ESA to benefit both species and the public. These revisions will also clarify that the ESA is not a vehicle for regulating climate change.
PLC released a statement applauding the final rule, in which President Skye Krebs was quoted saying, "The Endangered Species Act is not the correct way to regulate greenhouse gases. Doing so diminishes our capacity to protect species in immediate danger and puts the important question of greenhouse gas regulation in the hands of agencies who are not equipped to handle that subject.
"The question of whether and how to address greenhouse gas emissions is one that is currently being debated in Congress, which is the appropriate forum for this discussion. The ESA should not be used as a back-door mechanism to force the debate or choice of actions on climate change.
"While this proposed rule is an important first step in amending ESA to achieve its originally intended goals, further improvements to the administration of ESA are needed."
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USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture Holds Public Meeting
On December 17 and 18, 2008, the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21) held a public meeting to discuss biotechnology, and specifically regulatory concerns regarding genetically engineered (GE) animals.
NCBA welcomes these discussions of how GE animals should be regulated. It is vital that our government provide a clear and transparent, science-based and risk-based, well coordinated regulatory framework in order to ensure both animal and human health.
It is also necessary to assure producers, consumers and trading partners that any animals or products approved utilizing this promising technology have been thoroughly evaluated.
Furthermore, we need to ensure that systems are in place to monitor and evaluate all aspects as this technology progresses. It is also vital to make clearly articulated government requirements available to technology providers, thereby avoiding confusion and avoiding unjustifiable inhibition for continued research and technology advances.
The AC21 advises the Department of Agriculture on topics including biotechnology research, regulation, and commercialization. AC21 is critical to maintain an intensive and regular dialogue to explore and understand the importance of agricultural biotechnology. It consists of members appointed by the Secretary representing the biotechnology industry, farmers, commodity processors and shippers, livestock handlers, environmental and consumer groups, and academic researchers. In addition, representatives from the Departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, and State, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture serve as "ex officio" members.
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Tuberculosis Listening Sessions Wrap-Up
This week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) held its final regional listening session on potential changes to the current bovine tuberculosis program to help meet current challenges.
Cattle producers and members of NCBA participated in each of the five sessions, held across the country, and NCBA's Chief Veterinarian Elizabeth Parker participated in the session held in Washington, D.C. on December 16, 2008.
NCBA agrees the current TB program needs to be updated and appreciates USDA hosting these listening sessions, providing the opportunity for producer input. These sessions were the first step in creating an up-to-date program that adequately addresses the current situation.
The national tuberculosis eradication program has successfully reduced the incidence of the disease in United States (U.S.) cattle, but there continues to be a low incidence of TB as evidenced by the newly identified infected herds over the past several years. As we struggle to deal with the impacts of the current TB episodes in the near term, we are also extremely interested in working with USDA to improve the national TB program to ensure that we meet its long term goal of protecting human and animal health by eradicating the disease from our nation's cattle herd.
NCBA will remain actively involved and engaged in this process.
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| WTO Declines to Convene Ministerial:
The World Trade Organization (WTO) declined to convene a ministerial on trade discussions in December, which could have been a forum for narrowing the existing gaps on agricultural provisions of the Doha Round of free trade talks.
After the WTO released papers presenting formulas for cutting tariffs and trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, and related provisions on December 6, 2008, there was hope that a December ministerial could make progress on the remaining issues of contention.
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Don't Miss NCBA's Award-Winning Cattlemen to Cattlemen:
Don't miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen! On the show airing from December 23rd through December 28th, we bring you our favorite recipes from NCBA Chef Michaele Musel. Join us for tips on how to make a great pot roast and a recipe perfect for a busy family.
Then, from December 30th through January 4th, join us for a special 100th episode of NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen. This week, we take a look back over the last two years and bring you some of our favorite stories from across the country. NCBA wants to thank its sponsors and loyal viewers who have made this television show such a success.
NCBA'S Cattlemen to Cattlemen debuts Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The show also airs Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 12:00 a.m. (All Times are Eastern) Don't forget, you can watch NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen online anytime by visiting CattlemenToCattlemen.org.
NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV provides weekly news and features for cattle producers across the country. It airs every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, with repeat episodes on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Sundays at midnight (all times Eastern).
The program's sponsors include Purina Mills, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Dow AgroSciences, Bayer Animal Health and McDonald's.
For more information or to check out past episodes, visit www.cattlementocattlemen.org. | |
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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN'S BEEF ASSOCIATION
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20004 | |
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