Scientist-Turned-Lawmaker Hears Concerns

www.agrinews-pubs.com
Jeannie Otto
2010-05-26

AMBOY, Ill. — “We’re not afraid of the science,” said Amboy farmer Don Meyer.

Science is something with which the man with whom Meyer and other farmers from Bureau, Henry, Lee and Whiteside counties were visiting at the Lee County Farm Bureau in Amboy is very familiar.

On his weekly trip home to the 14th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., made a swing through the district to hear concerns from some local farmers.

“I’m sort of best known as a scientist. I’m also a businessman,” Foster told the audience.

Like his audience, Foster got started in business at an early age. At age 19, he and his brother Fred started ETC Inc., a theater lighting company that now makes about 70 percent of all theater lighting equipment in the United States.

Foster spent 22 years at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory as a research scientist before he was elected to the seat vacated by former House Speaker and 14th District Congressman J. Dennis Hastert.

Foster heard from area farmers on a variety of issues, but concerns about environmental regulations and an Environmental Protection Agency that has, to them, become particularly aggressive toward production agriculture, topped the list.

Meyer voiced the concerns of the group when he said they also had some concerns about who’s running the show at the U.S. EPA.

“I think the concern is that EPA is just much more directed by the activists rather than scientists. I guess maybe we would like to see it run by true science,” Meyer said.

“We here are a little concerned about the overstepping bounds of the EPA recently, and we’re concerned about some of the things that have been proposed, some of the retesting of some of the pesticides, the atrazine, the possibility of reclassifying atrazine,” said Don Temple, president of Whiteside County Farm Bureau.

“We’re concerned about some of the — I think we would view them as not-common-sense approaches such as the spray-drift regulations and various other things that would make our profession a little harder to deal with.”

Lee County farmer, Farm Bureau member and Lee County Board member Allyn Buhrow agreed.

“Probably our biggest concern is the speed at which these things are flying at us. In the past year and a half it seems like the doors were opened at the EPA all of a sudden. Just one thing after another. It seems there’s a bit of pent-up angst to come after some of the things we do on a daily basis,” Buhrow said.

Foster agreed with farmers that while there are some regulations that burdensome with little proven benefit, some regulation is necessary for safety and health.

“I think what you have to do is have scientific and business sense and look at the cost-effectiveness of many of these things,” he said.

Foster said that one of his frustrations as a legislator is dealing with various sectors of the federal bureaucracy that are less than competent and versed in their areas of specialty.

“There’s a mindset that I cross swords with quite often — people are trying to use, to sort of mispurpose EPA laws. They write regulations to go way beyond what the intent of the original law was,” he said.

“You have to take seriously the issue of chemicals in peoples’ bloodstreams. It’s a serious thing. There’s a lot of really bad stuff that’s been done.”

Foster said he would like to see a more common-sense approach.

“The thing that drives me nuts is when people say the threshold is zero. Like one molecule of this chemical in people’s blood is going to — has to be prevented. In reality, chemicals move around in our environment and they will get in your blood so it’s a question of what concentration causes damage,” said Foster, who added that some regulation, even though it may be costly to an industry, is absolutely necessary to protect the public health.

He said that government needs to find the balance between the regulations that are most effective at protecting the public health while also being most cost effective.

The group discussed the America’s Commitment to Clean Waters Act, introduced by Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. The bill would remove the word “navigable” from the Clean Water Act.

That could mean that all waters, including small streams, creeks and drainage ditches, would be subject to the restrictions in the Clean Water Act.

Buhrow pointed out that formerly the distinction was between point source and non-point source pollution in the Clean Waters Act.

“Common sense would seem that a factory dumping from a pipe would be a point source as opposed to something 100 feet wide applying an ounce of pesticide,” Buhrow said.

Foster said he favors distinguishing agricultural usage in the legislation.

“We get attacked all the time because our bills are so long, but this is a case where some more explicit detail in the bill that said here’s exactly — here’s this cutout for ag and what doesn’t apply and go into a little more detail,” he said, adding that he did not think it was Oberstar’s intent to attack agriculture.

“I just think there’s a danger that EPA will use the words and that is not what Congress intends and the way you avoid that is by spelling it out in more detail to leave out agriculture,” he said.

In answer to a question on the estate tax, Foster said he favors making special considerations for the next generation if that generation actually intends to keep and farm the farm.

“I view it as a different situation if the next generation of kids is just going to cash out. They can do that but it should be the same as the estate tax under general circumstances,” said Foster, who added that he thinks some action on the estate tax will take place this year.

Foster heard from one farmer who said he was frustrated with criticisms directed at the 2008 farm bill as discussions for the 2012 farm bill get started.

“My comment would be that I am sick and tired. The last bill passed and all I heard was bloated, bloated, bloated, bloated. Bloated for whom? Seventy percent or better of the USDA’s budget is spent for entitlements and nourishment programs. One quarter is spent on agriculture,” said Bureau County Farm Bureau member and Tiskilwa farmer Larry Magnuson.

Foster said he voted for the 2008 farm bill and didn’t regard the bill as bloated.

“The point is it came out as bloated and everybody said the farmers were getting rich. It’s got to come out what this breaks down to. The portion to the farmers is so small,” Magnuson said.

In addition to the farmers, the directors of the Lee, Whiteside and Henry County Farm Bureaus and Adam Nielsen, national legislative director for the Illinois Farm Bureau, also attended the meeting.


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