Particulate matter (PM) in the ambient air comes from a variety of sources and ranges in size, composition, and other characteristics. When considering regulatory measures and health effects, it is important to recognize the distinct difference between coarse PM (fugitive dusts) and fine PM (smoke, exhaust, etc.). Currently, U.S. farmers and ranchers are concerned with how the Environmental Protection Agency is assessing the basis for regulation of coarse particulate matter under the Clean Air Act.

Coarse particulate matter is fugitive dust, is dust in the wind, not smoke or soot. Coarse PM is like organic dusts kicked up in the air which shortly falls to the ground, not smoke with potential to penetrate deeply and remain in the lungs. Coarse particulate matter has never been demonstrated to have adverse impacts on health at ambient levels.

For more than 30 years the EPA has excluded fugitive dusts in making determinations of ambient compliance because there is not sufficient supporting evidence. Leading scientists have conducted a thorough review of the existing science on coarse PM and agree evidence is weak, limited, uncertain, and not sufficient to support a risk assessment. Under the EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), air quality standards must be about protecting public health. These standards cannot be arbitrarily imposed without scientific backing.

The Solution: We Proactively Manage Dust Everyday

Controlling dust in the wind has been a priority land management practice for America’s farm and ranch families for generations. We manage fugitive dust with proactive dust control measures, best management practices, not by imposing unscientific unempirical regulatory standards. Every day, producers employ environmentally friendly practices including windbreaks, watering down dirt roads and using sprinklers to reduce dirt in cattle pens. Many of these activities are mandated and/or monitored by clean air permits/committees.

We urge fellow environmentalists to take a long, hard look at this issue. The proposed requirements to regulate dust in the air are undisputedly unattainable and nonsensical. There exists no valid NAAQS standard for dust in the wind. The agricultural community leads land conservation efforts, lives off the land, and is actively engaged in dust control.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has compiled an extensive analysis, EPA comments, informational backgrounders, and epidemiological reviews regarding the scientific basis for proposed Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for coarse particulate matter. Check out the latest information linked online at the right, or call us at 202-347-0228.