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Meeting the Agricultural Air Quality Challenge
Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief,
Natural Resources Conservation Service,
at the
NRCS National Air Quality Workshop
St. Louis, MO
November 5, 2002
Thank you, Charles (Whitmore). Good morning. Happy Election Day! It’s a
pleasure to be here today to present some opening remarks for this National Air
Quality Workshop.
I want to thank Roger Hansen and all the Missouri NRCS employees who are hosting
this event and, of course, recognize Larry Clark, Charles Whitmore, and Charles
Adams for conceiving the idea of an air quality workshop over a glass of milk.
Thanks also to the planning committee for its hard work. And, of course, thank
you to all who have adjusted schedules to be here today for this event.
Today is Election Day - a tremendous exercise in self-government that occurs one
every two years. Election Day for me is exciting every time - for the outcome.
It is also exciting for the reminder it gives us of our duty as citizens and
servants of this great country. Due to self-government we have been entrusted to
deliver the most significant farm bill in history for conservation - an 80%
increase in funding. Today we must bridge the gap between that trust and our
vision and responsibility for air quality.
The Agricultural Air Quality Issue
In July, I chaired my first meeting of the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force
in Davenport, Iowa. I was impressed by the members of the task force. They have
been bright, visionary, and articulate advocates for improving and maintaining
air quality through sound science, common-sense regulations, and affordable
technologies.
The coming years - and even decades - will be exciting times for those of us who
are interested in air quality issues. More than once I have heard it said that
air quality is at the same place today that water quality was twenty years ago.
That may well be true. And every day I become more convinced that it probably is
true.
Air quality has been an issue for decades, but until recently, the focus was on
the effect of industrial operations on air quality. It was only when our nation
began to get industrial air pollution under control that agriculture started to
come under scrutiny.
As agricultural issues assume their place in the overall air quality issue, we
will have our work cut out for us on many fronts, including developing the
science on which to define the issues, defining policies that address air
quality problems, devising conservation measures that solve the problems, and
ensuring that we can measure our progress.
Your work at this workshop is an important part of helping us focus on all of
these aspects of air quality. We can already see ways in which air quality has
come to be a permanent part of our agenda at NRCS and in the Department of
Agriculture.
Secretary Veneman recently renewed the charter of the Agricultural Air Quality
Task Force. We are accepting nominations for the Task Force until November 12,
and I look forward to meeting the new members. President Bush has set an
ambitious goal of improving greenhouse gas efficiency by 18 percent. NRCS has
the lead for the U.S. government in developing new guidelines for reporting
agricultural green house gas offsets.
In a couple of weeks, I will join many of you in Raleigh, N.C., for the USDA
Symposium on Natural Resource Management of Offset Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
where we will talk about the latest science in this important aspect of air
quality. The President has directed USDA to identify new targeted incentives for
carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, we will
be looking for opportunities as we implement new and expanded conservation
programs to offset greenhouse gas emissions and promote sequestration of carbon
and carbon equivalents.
The increasing dialog and cooperation between USDA and the Environmental
Protection Agency with regard to agriculture and air quality is another
indication of how air quality is growing as an issue.
All of this adds up to greater opportunities for those of us gathered here today
to make a contribution in terms of recommending and developing scientifically
sound, market-based incentives to help landowners and operators voluntarily
apply abatement technology.
The Need for Sound Science
We need to be sure we have sound science behind us at all times, whether we are
developing regulations or implementing conservation practices. We need to have
the best information at our disposal to set priorities as we move forward. We
need to know more precisely what resources to protect and how to protect them,
so that we can look back in 20 years and see that we made a difference. We must
develop the kind of track record with regard to air quality, that we developed
for water quality.
For non-scientists, it is tempting to see a clear example of degraded air
quality, then look at some industrial or agricultural practice going on nearby,
and then assert that there is a cause and effect relationship between the
practice and the poor air quality, and that controlling the practice will
improve the air quality. Without sound science, we cannot justify making that
kind of connection, or placing a burden on landowners to take actions that may
or may not solve the problem.
In states like California and Arizona, the air quality challenges are so severe
that all of government is probably implementing solutions well ahead of the
science. We need for the science to catch up, so future actions can be taken in
ways that are supported by the knowledge base.
Congress has recognized this danger. They have concluded that some of the
studies claiming agriculture is a source of emissions were based on erroneous
data. They charged the Secretary with making sure that Departmental federal air
quality research not report erroneous data. Congress also directed NRCS to
establish the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force to advise the Secretary with
respect to oversight and coordination of agricultural air quality programs.
Your work this week is one way of keeping science in the forefront. One of the
tasks that I would hope you accomplish this week is to gather up the information
needed and begin to develop NRCS national policy and technology guidance for air
quality. Once we have the national policy and technical guidance in place, the
States can update their Field Office Technical guides to carry out the air
quality portion.
Incidentally, when we are talking about air or any resource concern, getting
-and keeping - the Field Office technical guide up to date, with the latest
scientific information, is important. It is important to our overall success in
getting conservation on the ground. And, it is crucial to our successful
implementation of the farm bill.
Now that the Field Office Technical Guide is available on the Internet, it is
doubly important that it be up to date. Landowners, technical providers,
partners, and NRCS employees all have instant access to the information in the
Guide, so it simply must be up to date.
We must also have much better ways of monitoring and measuring. In the past, we
may have been able to account for our actions by counting the number of plans
developed and implemented. But today, we need measurable results. We need to
measure specific outcomes, not processes.
I challenge you, as you are developing these new air quality policies and
practices, to leap over the old measures of the past and embrace the
outcome-based measures of the future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, meeting the challenges of improving air quality is going to take
creativity and innovation.
We need to have a better understanding of the relationship between agricultural
operations and air quality. We must look for new ways to use farm bill programs,
conservation technical assistance, and our other tools to address air quality
challenges. This kind of innovation cannot come from the top, but will come from
employees in the field looking at the conservation needs of their customers in
new ways.
We must strengthen existing partnerships and develop new ones with
non-government groups, academic institutions, and State, Federal, and local
governments to develop expertise and address air quality issues.
At the policy level, we must continue looking into innovative ways of meeting
air quality challenges, such as win-win practice standards that address multiple
resource concerns, trading of Emission Reduction Credits, and, embracing
renewable energy.
And finally, we need better ways of measuring the existing conditions and
capturing and quantifying any gains we make.
This workshop is an excellent step toward meeting these challenges. I have high
expectations for the outcome of this workshop. I look forward to the report I
will get from Larry and others on what comes out of the sessions this week.
Thank you. I will be happy to answer any questions.
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