Farm Bureau to President: Here's Two Federal Regulations That Need Some Common Sense

Lincoln, Nebraska- Nebraska Farm Bureau has two initial recommendations for President Obama as he seeks to stop unnecessary and burdensome federal regulations: discontinue the Department of Labor’s efforts to severely restrict the kinds of work children can do on farms, and recognize that on-farm storage of fuel shouldn’t be regulated the same way as fuel storage at gas stations, airports and oil refineries.

 “We’re in complete agreement with the president that government should eliminate rules and regulations that don’t make sense,” Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson said Friday (Jan. 27). Nelson offered Farm Bureau’s suggestions on behalf of the organization’s board of directors in a letter to the president.

“The first issue we raised with the president is the Department of Labor’s proposal to limit what young people can do on farms and ranches. As farmer and ranchers, we know the hazards in agriculture and have measures in place to keep our youth safe,” Nelson said.

The proposed rules are written so broadly that they severely limit young people’s exposure to livestock and farm machinery, he said.  “’Learning by doing’ is critical to young people becoming excited about agriculture and careers in ag and related occupations. Limiting their ability to get their hands dirty keeps them from learning and developing a passion for agriculture. We need to do everything we can to encourage the next generation of food producers.”

Farm Bureau’s second recommendation would further modify the EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure rule, which the president referred to in his State of the Union address. He noted that a provision requiring dairy producers to have a plan to contain spilled milk had been eliminated from the rule.

“Farmers fought for that change and there are other parts of the rule that also need changing,” Nelson said. “The SPCC rule was developed in the 1970s to cover only very large oil storage facilities such as refineries but it’s been expanded over time to include farms and ranches. Currently if you have more than 1,320 gallons of above-ground fuel storage, you need an SPCC compliance plan, which as the president noted, can cost $10,000 a year,” he said.

As the size of agricultural equipment continues to increase, farmers and ranchers need to have on-farm access to larger quantities of fuel, Nelson said. “Most of the time you can save a lot of money by buying fuel in a large quantity, because the supplier can make one trip to your place instead of several if you have less storage, and you have it when you need it.” He noted that the maximum amount of fuel that can be stored under the current limit is only enough to run a combine and tractor for two weeks during harvest.

He urged the president to increase the number of gallons of fuel that could be stored on the farm before a spill prevention plan is required. In an informal online survey conducted by Nebraska Farm Bureau last year, respondents said 10,000 gallons of fuel storage would be a reasonable maximum.