Agricultural Air Quality to be Topic of USDA Meeting in Texas

WASHINGTON, March 26, 1998--Agricultural air quality, including research, health issues, agricultural burning, and the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, will be discussed at the USDA Task Force on Agricultural Air Quality meeting on April 8-9 in Amarillo, Texas.

The meeting will be held at the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center on April 8 and at the Ambassador Hotel on April 9.

The Agricultural Air Quality Task Force was established by the 1996 Farm Bill. Its members, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, include farmers and ranchers, representatives from agricultural industry, public health officials, scientists, and engineers. Pearlie S. Reed, chief of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, is the new chairperson of the task force.

The memorandum of understanding, signed recently by USDA Secretary Dan Glickman and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner, promotes coordination on air quality issues concerning agriculture. The agreement establishes a formal working relationship between USDA and EPA, including seeking advice from the Agricultural Air Quality Task Force.

The memorandum states that USDA and EPA will share information; seek to acquire needed research and field studies to improve the understanding of agricultural-related activities impacting air quality and the impact of air quality on agriculture; provide information on the need for effective conservation practices that address air quality issues where the problem exists; and confer on other air quality matters of concern.

Among activities encouraged in the memorandum are working with local conservation districts; using the conservation planning expertise of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service to identify farming practices useful in improving air quality; and sharing status reports on such research as agricultural emission estimates, wind erosion estimates, agricultural burning emissions, model development, and resource management system demonstration projects relative to agriculture and air quality.

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