Forum Exposes EPA Overreach

Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC-Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE), a member of the Rural America Solutions Group, today heard testimony on the job-killing regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on rural Americans.

The forum, entitled "The EPA's Assault on Rural America: How New Regulations and Proposed Legislation are Stifling Job Creation and Economic Growth," included members of the Agriculture, Small Business, and Natural Resources Committees.

Gerald Simonsen, from Ruskin, Nebraska, offered testimony detailing agriculture producers concerns with EPA's regulations and the associated costs to rural America, jobs, and our nation's economy. Smith also submitted a letter of testimony from the Nebraska Farm Bureau.

"Time and time again, the EPA has attempted to regulate everything from irrigation canals to road dust to methane from cows. This heavy-handed approach has very real consequences for rural areas. I want to thank Gerald for his testimony as well as every Nebraskan who has contacted me about their concerns with these onerous regulations," Smith said.
The forum discussed EPA's zero tolerance standards for pesticide spray drift which many consider unachievable; attempts to double the current regulatory standard on farm dust which would make tilling a field, operating a feedlot, or driving a farm vehicle nearly impossible; new hazardous emission regulations for stationary irrigation vehicles, and an unprecedented ban on the pesticide Atrazine, which could cost nearly 50,000 agriculture-related jobs if put into effect.

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