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.