A26-Uinc*stef Fanning, Saturday, November 19,1994
SCC Nutrient Advisory Board Continues, Uncertain
(Continued from Pago A 1)
regulations which would fulfill the
intent of the state’s Nutrient Man
agement Act
The intent of the Nutrient Man
agement Act is to create regula
tions to outline the responsibilities
of livestock producers who raise
livestock in such numbers that
more manure is created than facili
ties and land resources can use.
The goal is to encourage such
producers to plan for the use or dis
posal of manure that is in excess of
what can be used on the immediate
farming operation.
The act also details that those
who would be required to comply
with the law are those livestock
producers whose operations have
more than 1,000 pounds of lives
tock (liveweight) per acre.
In general, the act seeks to
require such “high risk” oeprations
to make plans fen* nutrient control,
and to implement those plans and
keep records. The act also creates a
new specialty, that of nutrient
management technician. Techni
cians are to be able to design work
able management plans. A review
and approval process is also to be
created.
At the same time, while the
board has been progressing well in
pursuing a number of different
areas which fall under the require
ments of the act, complexities are
beginning to slow down work in
some key areas.
Overall, the board may find it
necessary to request an extension
of deadline to finalize regulations
under the act, although members
did not concede that such a request
is imminent
The board did endorse action by
its executive committee to convey
to the incoming administration the
importance of the work being
done, and to seek cooperation in
keeping the matter a priority, esp
cially since the act contains dead
lines for the enactment of
regulations.
Without specific guidelines
from the governor-elect as to what
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si PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC. |
1 295 Wopdeorner Rd., Utltz, PA 17543 9
PH: 717-738-7365 |
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changes may be forthcoming to the
DER, members of the advisory
board do not know if the regula
tions they recommend to the state
Conservation Commission will
have to be redone.
Ridge, a former Republican
U.S. congressman from Erie
County, won the state election fra*
governor and based a large part of
his campaign on dismantling DER
as it currently exists. In effect, he
has said he would remove some of
the agency’s peripheral responsi
bilities, such as maintaining state
forests and paries, and create inde
pendent agencies to handle such
non-pollution environmental
concerns.
Under the outline of Ridge’s
position on DER (as of Septem
ber), there would be five major
changes:
• create a Department of Envir
onmental Protection to focus on
the protection of the environment
with emphasis on enforcement;
• create a Department of Con
servation and Natural Resources to
serve as an advocate for state parks
and forests and to promote better
management of natural resources;
• create an Office of Pollution
Ag Equipment Group-
The Tye Co.
Agri-Business Insurance
Agency
Brillion Iron Works
Cargill Hybrid Seeds
Central Maryland Farm
Credit
Ciba-Geigy Corp
Prevention and Compliance Assis
tance, which would help people,
businesses and agencies comply
with laws and regulations;
• create a commission to priorit
ize environmental concerns and,
uing comparative risk, to recom
mend changes to laws and
regulations;
• and implement a number of
other nonspecific changes which
would give more public input into
rulemaking and policy making and
make protection efforts more
responsive and effective.
Under the existing DER struc
ture, the administration of the
nutrient management act would be
done through a newly created
Nutrient Management Section,
contained within the Nonpoint
Source Management Division of
the DER Bureau of Land and
Water Conservation Office of
Water Management.
The bureau is currently divided
into four divisions
conservation districts; storm
water management and sediment
control; coastal programs; and
nonpoint source management.
The nonpoint source manage
ment division currently contains a
Chesapeak Bay Section.
21st Annual Mid-Atlantic
Conservation Tillage Conference
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1994
Hear Presentations on
Pertinent Topics:
• “30 Rock-Solid, Highly Practical and
Profitable No-Till Ideaa to Uae Next Spring” -
William F. Rohrs, coordinator, Conservation
Action Project, Maumee Valley Resource
Conservation & Development Area, Soil
Conservation Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Defiance, Ohio.
• “Clean Water Without Rigid Regulation” - Or.
Richard S. Fawcett, Farm Journal environment
specialist, Huxley, lowa.
• “Soil Fertility Programs” (including manure &
fertilizer inputs) - Farmer panel.
• “Where to Find the Profits in Conservation
Farming” - Roland P. Freund, area farm
management agent, Capital Region, Penn State
Extension, Cartisle, Pa.
• “New Chemistry of Herbicides: Making
Conservation Tillage More Friendly to the
Environment” - Dick Fawcett, Farm Journal.
Taking Conservation Tillage
to the Bank!
Furthermore, federal funding
has been allocated through the
Environmental Protection Agency
for use in operating the bureau and
administering $600,000 has been
allocated for use by local conser
vation districts to hire nutrient
management staff.
If the structure of DER is
changed, it is not known how fund
ing will be redistributed, or which
agency would take over responsi
bility for the nutrient management
program.
There are also some other poten
tial obstacles to completing the
work in time a delay caused by
the need to brief new political
appointees on work done and pro
vide them with a solid background
on the issue.
It can be expected that there will
be a number of staffing changes
within DER, or the new DEP.
When former Gov. Dick Thorn
burgh was in office, he imple
mented a number of changes in
staff, replacing management jobs
that had been held by non-political
civil service employees and
replacing them with political
appointees, called senior
adminstrators.
• Exhibits • Lectures • Lunch
—■ Commercial Exhibitors
Cummings & Bricker Inc
Ddebler’s PA Hybrids Inc
E iDupont De Nemours & Co
Drills
Joljn Deere Company
Lancaster Farming
Mainland Farmer
Northrup King
PA Farm Link
Of Changes
In effect, DER thus became
more reactive to political
intentions.
It is widely expected that a num
ber of key people in the state
Department of Environmental
Resources will be replaced with
new political appointees unfamil
iar with the scope, pace and agenda
of the commission's advisory
board.
Technically, the nutrient man
agement regulations could be
created by the commission entirely
in draft and presented to the board
for review.
However, to date, proposed reg
ulations have been created by com
mission staff working in coopera
tion with the advisory board, and
making changes as the board
majority approves.
I THINK
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re. ... . =.
ADVERTISING TO FIND ALL I
YOUR NEEDS! j
Embers Inn ft Convention Center
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Programs of the cooperative Extension |
Services in Delaware, Maiyland, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West
Virginia and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture are open to citizens without
regard to race, color, sex, handicap,
religion, age or national origin. Related
agribusiness firms cooperating.
For lunch tickets and more information see
or call your county Extension Agent by
Monday, December 5.
ipi Eq pment, Inc
Wheelabrator
(Continued next week.)
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Inc.
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