US groups seek more conservation cash in farm bill
Date: 24-Aug-01
Country: USA
Author: Randy Fabi
Environmental Defense and American Rivers said the $73.5 billion U.S. farm subsidy bill before the House of Representatives offers little in conservation spending.
"Most farmers and feedlot operators are willing to do their part to clean up America's most polluted bays, but they are repeatedly rejected when they seek federal help," said Scott Faber, water resource expert for Environmental Defense.
The green groups said the latest "farm bill" instead subsidizes massive livestock operations and encourages producers to increase traditional crop production, which uses vast amounts of fertilizer.
In July, the House Agriculture Committee approved the omnibus farm bill which gave grain, cotton and soybean growers an additional $45 billion over 10 years while conservation funding would rise by $16.5 billion. Green funding currently gets about $2 billion a year.
The bill is expected to be debated by the full House when lawmakers return to work in September.
"While the (Agriculture) Committee claims the bill increases conservation spending, the actual bill would undermine critical, long-standing environmental standards," Environmental Defense said.
The environmental groups said they were confident a majority of lawmakers would support a $6 billion conservation bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat, and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, a Maryland Republican.
Faber admitted they currently fell short of a majority vote, estimating about 120 lawmakers in support of the bill and about 60 more leaning toward it.
The groups said they feared the continued degradation of the country's most polluted rivers and bays if Congress does not increase conservation funding.
They blamed agricultural waste, such as livestock manure and crop fertilizer, as the main contributor to 13 of the 17 most polluted bays in the country, including the Northern Gulf of Mexico, San Francisco Bay and the Chesapeake Bay.
Hog, cattle and poultry producers, who support the idea of larger conservation funding, calculate it will cost more than $12 billion over the next decade to satisfy new clean-air and clean-water regulations against pollution from medium-and large-size feedlots.
