Written by guest blogger Fletcher Hall!
Some of the readers may remember a very popular across the counter vitamin, “One a Day”.
Lately, I have been noticing that the Environmental Protection Agency has been issuing at least one a day press releases and most days multiple press releases.
In many cases these press releases concern either a new federal regulation or an anouncement regarding a business or agricultural enterprise being fined for one of the myriad of federal regulations on the books or being proposed by EPA.
These releases seem to cover a variety of issues from the daily gas omission from cows to the EPA determining the sources of stationary omissions of C02. In many cases these regulations are done cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. These regulations emanate from the Clean Air Act.
No matter that the American Farm Bureau and many other national and state agricultural organizations have voiced strong opposition to EPA regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, without prior congressional approval. The EPA without congressional input has determined that the Supreme Court ruling in 2007, stating that EPA has regulatory authority over carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles, this regulatory power extends to all regulated pollutants.
Agricultural operations and commercial agricultural transportation will be affected by the EPA regulations issued in these areas. And, the flood of regulations has just begun.
In an article published in the April 1, 2010 issue of “WebMemo, Ben Lieberman points out, “There is little doubt that legislative measures designed to address global warming would greatly burden the agricultural sector. Farming is energy intensive, and cap-and-trade bills—-namely the House Waxman- Markey bill, which passed the House in June, and the Boxer-Kerry bill pending in the Senate— are a massive tax on energy”. This article can be viewed, in its entirety, at www.report.heritage.org/wm2851.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, has a resolution pending before the U.S. Senate that would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases as pollutants. This legislation may be taken up fairly soon by the Senate.
It is not rocket since to determine that increased overregulation of the agricultural sector and commercial agricultural transportation not only will lead to increased transportation and input costs, and also put American exports at a competitive disadvantage in foreign commercial markets.
Stay tuned to your computer screen for many more of these one a day messages from the EPA and other federal regulatory agencies.
As a native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, who grew up in a very small farming community, near the Chesapeake Bay, I was recently interested to see, in one of their many “one a day releases”, that the EPA has announced a major “new” initiative to save the Chesapeake Bay. Now, no one wants to preserve the Chesapeake Bay, with its unique heritage and ecosystem, than I do.
Some thoughts about these “new” federal initiatives. If the various private sector interests, involved in Chesapeake Bay activities, businesses and commerce generated by the Bay. are not equally represented in the development of this “new” plan, from the beginning, it will not succeed. Like education, just throwing money at this challenge is not the answer. The agricultural sector, the seafood industry, the tourist industry, and state and local governments must all be actively and seriously involved in this endeavor in order to salvage, and protect the many benefits and beauty of this extraordinary body of water.
Remember, the world is run by those who show up.
You may engage in conversation about this post by contacting Fletcher R. Hall directly at fletcher@frhallassociates.com.
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About Fletcher R. Hall
Fletcher R. Hall is Chairman and CEO of F.R. Hall & Associates, LLC, a full service government relations counsel and strategic communications firm with offices in the Washington, D.C. Baltimore, Maryland areas. F.R. Hall Associates specializes primarily in agriculture, commercial agricultural/food transportation, and food safety.
As the Executive Director of the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) of the American Trucking Associations, Hall represented that organization on all legislative issues and regulatory matters in the areas of renewable fuels, food safety, commercial agricultural transportation, and trade issues legislation affecting before Congress and various federal agencies.
During his 35-year career in association management, Hall was chief operating officer and lobbyist for several local, state, and national trade associations.
As chairman of F.R. Hall & Associates, Hall has previously engaged in consulting assignments domestically and in Eastern Europe, including Poland, the Slovak Republic and Bulgaria. Hall was a U.S. appointed ministerial delegate to the 2008 Washington International Renewal Fuels Conference in Washington, D.C. Hall serves as an advisor in transportation and agricultural matters for the Economic Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, in Washington, D.C. F.R. Hall & Associates were responsible for securing two components of the 2008 Farm Bill for clients, and numerous regulatory changes from federal agencies.
During his tenure with AFTC, achievements included working extensively with the United States Congress and federal agencies to protect and legislatively expand the agricultural exemption to the federal hours of service regulations. He was instrumental in working with the Director of Homeland Security of the United States Department of Agriculture to develop and implement the first voluntary USDA/AFTC Guide for Security Practices in Transporting Agricultural and Food Commodities, and the AFTC Resources Directory for Security Practices in the Transportation of Agricultural and Food Commodities. He also managed programs in agriterrorism prevention and Avian Flu pandemic preparedness. He serves as an advisor in transportation and agricultural matters for the Economic Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, in Washington, D.C.
Hall was engaged as a consultant for Gryphon Scientific, for the Food Contamination Systems Study for the Food Contamination Systems study for the department of Homeland Security. He is a memeber of the Agricultural Transportation Committee of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academics of Sciences.
He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and a Masters of Education Degree from Bowie State University in Maryland. Hall grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where his family engaged in truck farming. His grandfather was recognized as a pioneer in the strawberry plant growing and shipping business. Hall is a Maryland 4-H All Star.
Fletcher happily lives by the Bayside in Rock Hall, Maryland.
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