OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN LARRY COMBEST

Good morning and welcome to everyone here. I would first like to thank all of the witnesses for their time and efforts to share their views with us on this important subject.

This hearing is being conducted to provide oversight of air quality issues and their effect on the agricultural industry. Our hearing is one of a series of hearings being held in both bodies of Congress. Due to the magnitude of EPA's proposal, several committees in the House are examining this issue including Commerce, Small Business, and Government Reform. Similar hearings are also being held in the Senate.

We would like to have a thorough discussion of the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force which was created in Section 391 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Since air quality issues are particularly important where I am from in West Texas, I was particularly interested in this section during the writing of the farm bill and am now very interested in the Department's plans to implement this section and what role this task force will play in these issues.

Next, the Subcommittee will examine and discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter. This new standard will require monitoring for particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers or less, commonly referred to as PM2.5. I have always said that our decisions here in Washington should be based more on science and less on emotion. Today, we are privileged to have the benefit of years of experience of several internationally recognized scientific experts in agricultural air quality research.

The witness on our third panel this morning will discuss California's state implementation plan for addressing the non-attainment of the PM10 standard. This discussion should be particularly helpful for the Members of the Subcommittee who are not as familiar with the regulatory burden that can result from these air quality standards. It should be interesting to hear the problems that Mr. Dooley and his

neighbors have been faced with. Other Members should note that the regulations

Opening Statement of Chairman Larry Combest

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under the California plan could be a precursor of things to come as other states are declared non-attainment under this more stringent proposed standard of PM2.5.

At the last hearing of this subcommittee we were discussing with the Agriculture Department the benefits that the Conservation Reserve Program produces in the way of improved air quality. At that time, officials from the Department testified that they did not feel like the science was yet developed to adequately measure the impacts on air quality from the CRP program. It is somewhat ironic that we are here today to discuss an EPA proposal which could result in forcing drastic changes in farming practices.

Research is currently being conducted in my hometown of Lubbock to define the relationship between wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity. If anyone has any ideas on how to make the wind stop blowing or increase the relative humidity in West Texas I definitely look forward to hearing them. But, as far as I know, those are factors that we cannot control.

Of course, we figured out a long time ago that if you can't stop the wind from blowing then you better concentrate on trying to keep the soil in place while the wind blows. Soil conservation is nothing new to me personally since I come from a farming background. It is pretty simple. Without soil conservation you will eventually have no topsoil left and then you will have nothing to farm on. We want to keep our soil in West Texas so we can farm on it. Our neighbors over in Dallas don't want it and we don't want it to blow over to them.

More importantly, discussions of soil conservation are nothing new to the Agriculture Committee. As one of the only few Members to serve on this committee during three farm bills I can tell you that soil conservation has been a very important part of our discussions. However, it has been frustrating that somehow the EPA has failed to recognize that assisting farmers with soil conservation efforts is the role of the Agriculture Committees in the House and Senate and the Department of Agriculture.

EPA's actions on these issues the last few years has been preposterous. A few years ago EPA declared the city of Lubbock, Texas a non-attainment area under current air quality standards because the dust blows. Fortunately, we showed them the folly of that determination and that was changed. Then, EPA recently came out with their so called natural events policy. This policy would require burdensome control measures similar to those formerly required only in non-attainment areas for areas such as West Texas where the dust blows.

Again, I appreciate the time that our witnesses have taken to prepare their testimony and appear before the Subcommittee. I look forward to the testimony and the discussion.