A Senate committee looking into inconsistent practices among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 10 regions has learned that 500 Illinois anhydrous ammonia dealers ?Çô nearly every one in the state – were singled out in a one-of-a-kind compliance case and fined and required to sign consent agreements for minor infractions.
The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee also heard details about a Region 5 pesticide criminal case brought against a Wabash Valley farmer-owned co-op that was thrown out by a federal judge after he questioned EPA’s judgment and ruled unconstitutional the law being applied. But the co-op still had to pay over $220,000 to defend itself.
Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., committee chairman, referred to actions taken against the Illinois anhydrous dealers as the work of a “renegade region.” He declared in opening remarks at the hearing June 28, “The Illinois agriculture community was shocked when Region 5 determined that the entire fertilizer retail industry was not in compliance with the Clean Air Act because they did not include so-called nurse tanks in their risk management plans.”
Jean Payne, president of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, testified at the oversight hearing on whether the organizational structure of EPA contributes to damaging and unfair practices against states and businesses. Payne recalled that in 2002 Region 5 EPA worked with state officials on a pilot program to resolve risk management plan compliance uncertainty among anhydrous facilities. She said EPA inspected only ammonia facilities that had actually filed their plans and made no attempt to locate or inspect facilities that may have ignored this regulation.
“This Region 5 requirement was never communicated to the agricultural community and is not required in other regions,” Inhofe asserted. Because of this structure, he described the regions as “notoriously autonomous and known to advance their own priorities and agendas. When regions make their own determination of law, we end up with ten different sets of rules for the regulated communities throughout the country.”
Without any attempt to help retailers with training materials, Payne told the committee, Region 5 inspectors required consent agreements and threatened $500 fines for each ammonia facility out of compliance. “Illinois was the only state in the region singled out for enforcement and we were the only state in the country subjected to the consent agreement provisions. Our facility managers were also required to attend a half-day training session to avoid substantial penalties.”
Fortunately, she added, IFCA was able to intervene to get the fines dropped, and with Inhofe’s help, the consent agreements that would have put dealers on record as being in violation of the Clean Air Act were also eliminated. Not a single Illinois facility has had an ammonia release due to risk plan non-compliance, Payne stressed. She labeled the violations as “only paperwork deficiencies” caused by confusing directions from EPA regulators.