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Regulatory Rollback: Right Idea, Wrong Execution
Around Iowa, farmers and small business owners express concern about government regulations costing them money and affecting their ability to keep going.
What might seem like “decimal dust” to someone writing regulations in Washington, D.C., is a big hit to a family farmer or small manufacturer everywhere else. Reasonable measures to protect public health and safety have to be balanced with common sense and the financial cost to the business owners involved and the economy as a whole.
That’s why it was good news earlier this year when President Obama announced a comprehensive review of government regulations. Many of us had hope for concrete action that would make a difference toward job retention and creation.
The President released the results of his review this week, and at first glance the regulatory rollback looks too weak to make a dent, especially in the face of emerging regulations, such as those governing the new health care law. An official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the President’s project was a "worthy effort" to get rid of duplicative and confusing regulations but that new regulations overwhelm the rollback. The official cited the example of farmers who’d been understandably confused by conflicting water quality regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Now the farmers have a better idea of the regulations that are really in effect. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies have gotten more involved than ever in farm production.
Farmers make a living off the land, and understand the need to produce a safe food supply without defiling the land or endangering themselves or others. Their frustration with regulators is raised, though, when the regulators seem to have no regard for how farming really works.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to regulate dust is a prime example of government wrong-headedness. The agency’s particulate matter standards for dust would be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers. Whether it’s livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day, or driving a car down a gravel road, dust happens. Yet producers could be required to take expensive steps to meet the stringent standards, despite practicing good management practices on their soils. Protests to the agency seem to fall on deaf ears.
Regulations can’t be excessive, and they have to make sense. That isn’t too much to ask from the government serving what has been, and with the right direction will continue to be, the greatest economy in the world.
Friday, Aug. 26, 2011
Around Iowa, farmers and small business owners express concern about government regulations costing them money and affecting their ability to keep going.
What might seem like “decimal dust” to someone writing regulations in Washington, D.C., is a big hit to a family farmer or small manufacturer everywhere else. Reasonable measures to protect public health and safety have to be balanced with common sense and the financial cost to the business owners involved and the economy as a whole.
That’s why it was good news earlier this year when President Obama announced a comprehensive review of government regulations. Many of us had hope for concrete action that would make a difference toward job retention and creation.
The President released the results of his review this week, and at first glance the regulatory rollback looks too weak to make a dent, especially in the face of emerging regulations, such as those governing the new health care law. An official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the President’s project was a "worthy effort" to get rid of duplicative and confusing regulations but that new regulations overwhelm the rollback. The official cited the example of farmers who’d been understandably confused by conflicting water quality regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Now the farmers have a better idea of the regulations that are really in effect. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies have gotten more involved than ever in farm production.
Farmers make a living off the land, and understand the need to produce a safe food supply without defiling the land or endangering themselves or others. Their frustration with regulators is raised, though, when the regulators seem to have no regard for how farming really works.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to regulate dust is a prime example of government wrong-headedness. The agency’s particulate matter standards for dust would be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers. Whether it’s livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day, or driving a car down a gravel road, dust happens. Yet producers could be required to take expensive steps to meet the stringent standards, despite practicing good management practices on their soils. Protests to the agency seem to fall on deaf ears.
Regulations can’t be excessive, and they have to make sense. That isn’t too much to ask from the government serving what has been, and with the right direction will continue to be, the greatest economy in the world.
Friday, Aug. 26, 2011