(Continued from Page Al 4)
availability dictate.
Grangers set the policy in the
belief that it would allow rural
communities to maintain or get
lower rates.
That deregulation was approved
by the Legislature, though it is not
clear what will be the end result
Electric providers build plants and
make plans when setting and
requesting rate approvals from the
state Public Utility Commission
for the costs associated with dis
mantling the power plants.
Companies with nuclear power
plants, for example, have planned
for years ahead to use known
income to meet government
regulations.
For example, Three-Mile Island
is supposed to be eventually
decommissioned and plans have
previously been made to return the
Middletown-vicinity island to a
condition that has no evidence of
the nuclear plant.
The effect of the paper-electric
trade expected to result from dere
gulation could be to deny compa
nies with significant investment in
materials a proper return on that
investment to make proper mainte
nance (» closure.
Other questions include such
things as who is to be responsible
for providing line service to or
within a dwelling, if the company
selling electricity is merely a user
of the wire.
According to Shambaugh, two
other achievements of the Legisla
ture include passage of Senate Bill
1371 and House Bill 1886.
SB 1371 changed the definition
of agriculture in the Right to Farm
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Legislature Finishes, Work
Act to expand it to include the right
to conduct on-farm processing
activities associated with a family
farm operation, such as drying
grain and sawing wood, which
some have charged is not farming
but industrial and therefore not
allowed under agricultural zoning.
That issue should be moot, for
now.
HB 1886 is an answer to a ques
tion that had been asked more and
more frequently since the advent
of the Farmland Preservation Act
several years ago.
The legislation makes it clear
that a farm receiving protection
from development under the Farm
land Protection Act must also con
tinue to receive the protections
afforded under the Agricultural
Security Area program.
Under the ASA program, con
demnations of farm land for
schools and highways, etc., arc to
be difficult to achieve.
Farmland has to be included
within an Agricultural Security
Area as a prerequisite to being pre
served under the Farmland Protec
tion Program.
However, ASAs have a seven
year life.
The question arose: What hap
pens to farmland “protected’’ from
development forever, when it loses
its basic protections under a less
than-forever foundation program?
HB 1886 requires that town
ships have to allow a farm that par
ticipates in farmland preservation
to always have the protections of
an Agricultural Security Area.
hi other areas, for rural resi
dents, especially the elderly on fix
ed incomes who make just over the
cut-off amount for eligibility on
state lotteiy funded prescription
medicine benefits, the Legislature
passed, and the governor signed, a
law that creates a higher income
level for the basic program and
adds a second tier of limited eligi
bility for the prescription program.
It also approved the Domestic
Animal Act, which is significant
because it created new definitions
of domestic animals, rccodified
laws, and allows the state the abili
ty to control and monitor animal
disease.
Previously, exotic animals, such
as ostriches, elk and deer, were
outside the purview of the PDA
and the health laws. That made it
difficult to control diseases such as
bovine tuberculosis which has
been appearing in domesticated
deer and elk, which can spread it to
cows, but the state had been unable
to require the same health check
and disease preventative measures
for those animals.
The failure of some laws was
also applauded by Shambaugh and
others, such as a proposal from a
representative to eliminate the
authority of the Pennsylvania Milk
Marketing Board to set minimum
retail prices for drinking milk.
“The fact that we were able to
continue the PMMB without hav
ing significant changes in its
authroity, for instance retail pric
ing, and the fact that we’ve been
able to prove that the PMMB is a
vialablc entitity for all dairy far
mers across the state and that the
industry needs the board to ensure
a reasonable farm price, shows that
we can be successful in communi
cating agriculture’s message to the
To Continue
Legislature,” Shambaugh said.
“Agriculture did well with the
General Assembly, which is good
for the state, because ag is the lead
ing industry instate. Not only does
ag benefit, but every resident of the
state benefits.
State Rep. Raymond Bunt,
majority chairman of the House
Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Committee, said, “I’m very
pleased with the accomplishments
of the House Ag Committee in the
latest Legislative session. We had
a full plate in front of us, and we
tackled the issues in a bipartisan
effort
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cations are now available for The
Northeast Region Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Educa
tion (SARE) Program’s 1997
Farmer/Grower Grants Program.
The region will award approxi
mately $lOO,OOO in grants to farm
ers to try innovative production
and marketing techniques.
The grants will be awarded on a
competitive basis to farmers
throughout the 12-state region.
Projects may involve small re
search trials, educational activi
ties, and demonstrations. Project
activities should promote good
stewardship of natural resources,
prevent agricultural pollution, im
prove farm profitability, and/or
enhance quality of life.
Projects must be under the dir
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“We’ve given the (PDA) the
tools it needed to fix the programs
that people have been very critical
of,” be said.
Though some of the issues that
people want settled such as
local tax reform and the accepting
of aquaculture as deserving of hill
agricultural protections were
left unresolved by the Legislature,
Bunt said that doesn’t mean the
effort is over.
“Though the session is over, and
we technically have to start from
the ground, the headway made on
these yet unresolved issues should
not be lost."
ection of a at least one producer,
and collaboration with other pro
ducers and other members of the
agricultural community is strong
ly encouraged.
SAKE is a USDA competitive
grants program with regional lead
ership and decision making.
Created in the 1985 Farm Bill, the
program has funded hundreds of
projects that help advance knowl
edge about farm practices that are
profitable, environmentally
sound, and socially beneficial.
Northeast Region SAKE Farm
er/Grower Grant applications are
available by contacting SAKE at
Hills Building, University of Ver
mont, Burlington, VT 05405-
0082, (802) 656-0471. Email;
msimpson@moose.uvm.edu.
The Farmer/Grower Grant ap
plication deadline is Dec. 6,1996.
We Do
SCS Work