Senator Franken: Minnesota dairy industry shouldn't be subject to excessive fines, regulations

Last week, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would protect dairy producers and processors from excessive fines. The legislation would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize a rule to exempt milk storage facilities from repetitive, costly Spill, Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations and prevent it from fining or enforcing compliance penalties against producers and processors until they do.

“Minnesota’s dairy farmers and processors play a very important role in our state’s economy and shouldn’t be subject to excessive fines or to unnecessary regulations that hurt their competitiveness,” said Sen. Franken. “This bill restores some common sense to this regulatory process by requiring the EPA to quickly end this excessive over-regulation of our dairy industry and protects our farmers from fines until it has done so.”

Currently the EPA administers the SPCC program under the Clean Water Act to prevent discharges of oil into waterways. Because the EPA considers milk to be a non-petroleum oil due to its butterfat content, facilities handling milk, including dairy farms, may be subject to regulation under SPCC because of their milk storage capacity. In January 2009, the EPA suggested correcting this ill-advised consequence for the dairy industry but no final ruling has been made. The SPCC regulations are considered repetitive and unnecessary because milk handling operations are already subject to FDA regulation under the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), including licensing and regular facility inspections.

Franken’s Staff To Meet With Seniors In Alexandria

Senator Seeking Minnesota Input For Upcoming Debate On Older Americans Act

With millions of baby boomers beginning to retire next year, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced today that his staff will be in Alexandria on Friday, July 16. Franken staff will meet with area seniors about the unique challenges they face in their retirement years.

“From home foreclosures, to health care, to retirement security, hundreds of thousands of Minnesota seniors – especially those in rural areas – are dealing with issues that affect their well-being,” said Sen. Franken. “Next year, as the large U.S. Baby Boomer population begins to retire, I want to ensure that we are prepared as a state and as a nation to meet our seniors’ needs. The input I get from Minnesotans at these meetings will be valuable to me as the Senate takes up the Older Americans Act next year.”

Sen. Franken serves on the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging as well as the Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Next year, both of these panels will reauthorize the Older Americans Act, which funds many of the local services used by seniors. Sen. Franken said the meetings will allow his office to hear from Minnesota seniors about what is working and what needs to be changed to allow Minnesota seniors to thrive in their retirement years.

Sen. Franken’s staff will be meeting with seniors to discuss the unique challenges they face at the following location:

Nelson Gables, Governor’s Room
1220 Nokomis St., Alexandria
10:00 a.m. CST, Friday, July 16

Franken Urges Support For Struggling Minnesota Dairy Farmers

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to take quick action in response to disastrously low milk prices. Minnesota’s dairy farmers are still struggling to recover from last year’s historic low prices and milk prices are projected to remain below the cost of production. Sen. Franken joined 21 of his colleagues in a letter to Secretary Vilsack outlining potential solutions to help struggling dairy farmers.

“I’ve witnessed firsthand how Minnesota’s dairy producers are struggling as a result of this economic crisis,” said Sen. Franken. “There are a lot of different ways we can help our farmers. I’m going to continue to work with Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to make sure we are exploring all of them, so Minnesota’s dairy producers get the help they need.”

The USDA took several proactive steps in response to low dairy prices last year. Similar actions should be taken this year, such as continuing the Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP), expediting DEIP payments and using the Dairy Product Price Support Program (DPPSP) to bolster the falling prices for non-fat dried milk, barrel cheese, and cheddar block cheese. In 2009, the USDA helped increase market prices without causing product acquisitions by the Commodity Credit Corporation by temporarily raising support prices. In that instance, the USDA was able to help dairy farmers earn a higher market price for their products without having to purchase cheese at the increased prices. The USDA could take the same action today to temporarily increase market prices to aid dairy producers, without incurring the costs of a purchase.

To view the letter sent to Secretary Vilsack click here: http://franken.senate.gov/files/letter/100414_Vilsack_Dairy_Letter.pdf