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Transcript - KICD Radio Interview with Regional Administrator Karl Brooks Dispelling Some Agricultural Myths and Discussing Other Topics
[Farm Broadcaster Dan Skelton] Today on our Farm Feature, we're visiting with Karl Brooks, Region 7 Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, speaking to us from the Iowa State Fair. Karl, I'm sure that at the Iowa State Fair you've had an opportunity to visit with a lot of farmers attending the fair and about some of the issues that have come before you as a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency. We wanted to talk with you about some of those issues as well. Let's talk about one of the most, shall we say, notorious issues and there's been a lot of controversy in the last year or two about what's called fugitive dust. It is the idea that somehow dust from farming operations would be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Can you tell us what's truth and fiction in that?
[Karl Brooks] Sure, let me set the record straight on EPA's regulation of what we call particulate matter, what a lot of folks call farm dust. You know, the Agency has been controlling particulates from industrial sources and around big cities for 40 years now. The controls that we put in place all have to do with science about how these pollutants hurt our lungs and hurt our heart. The Agency is supposed to look at the science every so often, the Clean Air Act requires us to do that. We are looking at that science now. The good news though for Iowa agriculture, and I've tried to make this point, is that even if the Agency changes that limit, the techniques that we develop with IDNR here in the state focus our regulation in populated areas around major industrial sites. There is no plan at the Agency, and I will strongly urge against any plan, to do any regulation in rural areas of what kind of dust is kicked up during normal farm operation. You need to regulate what you can monitor, but we don't operate monitors in rural areas to even measure that dust, so no realistic chance that it'll change anything about the way people farm.
[Dan Skelton] Another issue along those lines has to do with what is a relatively normal field operation here in Iowa, the spraying of crop fields, and it's called the spray drift rule. Ideas that maybe there will be some regulations as to what sorts of herbicides or how close to streams, that sort of thing. What's going on there?
[Karl Brooks] EPA recognizes that a vast majority of producers use pesticides safely and effectively. They follow the instructions, they're conscientious neighbors. Nothing that EPA has planned would make it illegal to have spray drift anywhere off the field. That's not within our responsibility. Instead, what we're focused on is making sure that, if you've got a pesticide, you follow the rules. If it's got a label, you follow the label when you apply it. That's an important job, it's a big job. It's one that we're completely focused on. There is no such thing as a no spray drift rule at EPA. That's an unfortunate myth out there, Dan.
[Dan Skelton] A third issue we want to discuss with you has to do with concentrated animal feeding operations. There have been some stories that the Environmental Protection Agency is examining some of the CAFOs in northwest Iowa. Is that being done?
[Karl Brooks] Well, that story is correct. We partner with the DNR to carry out the Clean Water Act. Basically, if you have a facility that discharges into the water, you need to get a permit through the state and you need to follow that permit to make sure that you're not releasing bacteria into the waters. And over the last several years, we've had a really good effort working with the livestock association and DNR to educate producers about the rules to make sure that folks who qualify for the rules have the information they need – and we've found over the last, I'd say, 18 months really, that the compliance is widespread. Producers just want to know what they're supposed to do and then they get to the business of doing it. We found a very cooperative attitude. The good producers – and that's the vast majority of folks who raise cattle in northwestern Iowa – know the rules, follow the rules, and want to make sure everybody in the business plays by the rules, and that's where we want to be and that's very much where we're getting to.
[Dan Skelton] We understand that you're working closely with Bill Northey, Secretary of Agriculture, and the Iowa Department of Agriculture on a number of issues. Give us an overview.
[Karl Brooks] Oh, sure. Well, my good friend Bill Northey and I just finished here at the State Fair about 30 minutes ago – a long, detailed conversation about how we can keep moving toward effective farming that keeps nutrients out of water. You know, nitrogen and phosphorus are major pollution sources in Iowa – and working with the DNR, Bill Northey's agency is trying to get EPA to help the states make better plans so that producers can not just grow crops effectively but they can keep soil on their field and keep the chemicals in the soil and uptaken into the plants. That's where it belongs. We've appreciated Bill's leadership on this, got a real good working relationship with IDALS [Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship], and I'd have to say that Bill is a real statesman when it comes to agriculture secretaries around this region.
[Dan Skelton] He is indeed. We appreciate your time, Karl. That is Karl Brooks, he is Region 7 Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.
