OMAHA (DTN) -- Dust rarely settles in parts of southern Arizona.

When it does, farmers carefully make their way to the fields -- always keeping one eye on the wind.

These producers already face an uphill battle to comply with federal ambient air quality regulations for PM10, or particulate matter. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson decided to leave the so-called farm dust regulation untouched this year.

Some farmers breathed a sigh of relief but are concerned about what might happen down the road.

"We're still stuck with the same standards that we can't comply with," said Maricopa County, Ariz., second-generation cotton farmer Dan Thelander. "It's not just agriculture but overall. I was very excited to see that EPA was not going to change it. We're still in a hell of a mess to get in compliance.

"We in the arid West should not have the same air standards as in the South where it rains 30 or 40 inches a year. I would like to see Congress get realistic and change the Clean Air Act."

The Clean Air Act establishes that dust has been reported to be harmful only at ambient levels much higher than the current PM10 standard of 150 micrograms per cubic meter in a 24-hour period. According to the Coarse Particulate Matter Coalition, air monitors in Maricopa County show ambient PM10 levels are unsafe.

According to EPA models farmers account for just about 3% of that pollution.

Some federal officials have scoffed at the notion that EPA wants to regulate dust from farms, though the agency already does in Arizona and California. Nationally, most farmers are not required to control dust.

Some federal lawmakers Tuesday engaged in semantics when discussing whether EPA actually regulates farm dust, during a hearing of a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"The EPA doesn't regulate dust," Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., told the House subcommittee on energy and power. "It regulates pollutants. Nobody's proposing to do things you fear might happen."

The words farm dust does not appear in the Clean Air Act. However, ambient air quality standards don't differentiate between particulate matter from power plants and dust from combines.

The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 sponsored by Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., attempts to redefine farm dust as "nuisance dust," allowing state regulators to make the distinction and exempt farm dust if they choose. The bill remains in committee.

Most areas in the Midwest are in attainment, or in compliance, with the current standards.

Phoenix-area farmer and president of the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation Kevin Rogers, however, said Midwest farmers should get to know county commissioners and become actively involved in where air monitors are placed in rural areas.

Arizona Struggles

Widespread efforts by Maricopa County, Ariz., farmers to keep dust on the ground haven't been enough in the big picture.

The area remains in non-attainment.

Rogers said when wind speeds exceed 25 miles per hour he either shuts down tractors, reshuffles workers from one part of his 7,000-acre farm to another, or just stops working for the day.

It can hurt the bottom line.

"I'd say it's costing every farm in the thousands of dollars to participate," or comply with dust regulation, he said. "In one year we may park a tractor 10 times."

Costs can include lost man hours and the "headache to implement" plans on farms. It can include the cost of gravel and speed limit signs for dirt roads, which is part of the effort to keep dust down.

Rogers said the agency continues to press Arizona farmers to further tighten down on dust.

If not, EPA can step in. If non-attainment areas aren't taking steps to reduce PM, a state can lose federal highway dollars. EPA could require farmers in non-attainment areas to do even more than they're doing now.

"We're in negotiations on how to step up our program," Rogers said. "We've had meetings the past 10 years to educate -- we've owned it. EPA may say it is not regulating agriculture, but they are regulating air sheds and these are our air sheds."

Arizona Efforts

Farmers in Arizona can choose from a menu of options depending on the needs of their farm. By most accounts, Rogers said, farmers are doing everything they can. The regulations apply to farmers with as few as 10 acres.

Some Arizona farmers use water trucks on dirt roads, pave or apply gravel to minimize dust.

"We continue to have pressure from EPA," Rogers said. "They want full-fledge reporting from farmers, including complete details about each individual operation in the non-attainment area.

"We don't believe big brother really needs that," Rogers said

Cynthia Cory, director of environmental affairs at the California Farm Bureau Federation, said California farmers have survived state dust regulations that are stricter than the Clean Air Act.

"In the scheme of things that we've been regulated on, the dust plan is not the worst," she said. "The dust plan is one of 50 things. It's not stopped farming. In California you can't compare to any place else. We abide or we can't stay in business."

The San Joaquin Valley has been identified by EPA to be in "serious" non-attainment for PM10 emissions. The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District is required to show a 5% per-year reduction in PM10.

District rules require farmers to implement conservation management practices, to document biennial plans to reduce dust from unpaved roads and equipment yards, during land preparation, harvest activities and from other cultural practices. This applies to farmers with 100 acres or more of contiguous or adjacent farmland.

Cory said if EPA decides to toughen ambient air quality standards it would become nearly impossible for farmers to do more.

A Way of Life

Dust can become like fog at times -- a treacherous foe during nighttime harvests in central California.

A steady diet of dust to can lead farmers to innovate.

Manteca, Calif., almond farmer David Phippen embraced no-till in the 1970s before no-till was cool.

He tries to use the latest harvesting technology, makes just one pass through his fields and waters dirt roads to keep dust down.

"I think it goes back to making good business sense," Phippen said. "I'm 61 -- I've been eating a lot of dust since I was a child. That's my home. We live on that farm."

When California regulators required farmers to adopt and document best management practices to meet national ambient air quality standards, he simply put in writing what he has been doing for years.

Keeping regulators happy improves the prospects of staying in operation.

As a result, in the past 20 or 30 years Phippen said he has cut dust on his farm by about 50%.

Rogers said if PM 10 regulations are tightened, "we would not have hope to meet the standard. We would lose the goodwill of the ag community. We would just throw up our hands."

The menu options for Arizona farmers were designed by local farmers to make them user-friendly, Rogers said.

"I don't think this has driven anybody out of business," he said. "I'm torqued we have to have a program. I'm torqued I can't make a business decision.

"It's influencing the way we farm and produce our crops."

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@telventdtn.com.

(GHSK)

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