“Infrastructure has really taken the front burner here lately,” says Hunter Carpenter, Senior Director of Public Policy at the Agricultural Retailers Association. “Infrastructure week has turned into the infrastructure quarter.”
Carpenter was joined by Richard Gupton Senior Vice President of Public Policy and counsel on AgriTalk to discuss the top issues and regulatory actions coming out of Washington DC.
You can listen to the full interview here:
In addition to infrastructure, which was said to be the one issue that will definitely be addressed before the August recess, Carpenter and Gupton discussed:
CDL reform:
“We’ve heard from our members there’s a major driver shortage,” Gupton says. “And this is even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s bigger than just the ag sector or rural America it’s throughout the country in various industry sectors.”
Gupton says there are two efforts to help expand the CDL driver pool:
- The Drive Safe Act to expand for younger drivers 18 to 20 in an apprenticeship program.
- Efforts to modernize the seasonal CDL program with a January restart and other ongoing efforts such as to increase the number of days in the program, online renewals and Class A motor vehicles.
“I know our members are having concerns with with getting products in a timely way. There’s other factors with the supply chain issues, but the driver issue is critical for that just in time delivery for ag production,” Gupton says. “So we’re continuing our outreach efforts with the Senate and the House members to make sure they’re aware of the importance of this issue and will hopefully get it addressed in a positive way.”
ARA’s update on CDL expansion efforts.
Supply Chain Resilience:
ARA submitted comments to the federal government in response to President Biden’s executive order regarding America’s supply chain. This effort focuses on the need for a resilient, diverse and secure supply chain to ensure US economic prosperity and national security.
“ARA’s comments focused on areas that have already been identified as priority issues by our members. They included infrastructure, crop input production regulation, energy, labor, pro growth economic policies and food equity,” Carpenter says. “We understand there’s no easy fix to supply chain disruptions facing the ag industry and any solutions need a multi pronged approach.”
ARA’s comments on the supply chain.
WOTUS:
The EPA has said it will revisit WOTUS and how to define what is a water of the U.S.
“This is creating a lot of concern within the agricultural sector including ARA and our members. We think the clarifications that were provided during the Trump administration towards the end of their administration make sense and provides a lot more clarity for the industry,” Gupton says. “We do have a cooperative federalism approach, where the federal government has some jurisdiction while the state has others. We’re concerned that the current EPA may go back to the Waters of the US type approach where it’s a fairly expansive definition and covers most of the United States. And so looking at a potential expansion of the regulation so it’s something of a major concern,” says Gupton.
Growing Climate Solutions Act:
“We were very happy to see the growing Climate Solutions Act passed the Senate overwhelmingly by vote of 92 to 8 last week,” Carpenter says. “The bill is seeing huge bipartisan support, and it’s been introduced in both houses of Congress. It seeks to help farmers, ranchers and foresters, participate in the voluntary carbon marketplaces by establishing a greenhouse gas technical assistance provider, and third party verifier certification program at USDA.”
Carpenter says this is an important step in monetizing sustainable farming practices.
“ARA did recently form a carbon credit working group that our members sit on that looks over a lot of these policy efforts,” Carpenter says. “We want to make sure that if this legislation does end up getting passed and signed into law the USDA knows that this regulatory framework for a carbon credit marketplace needs to develop in the private sector, for the role of USDA to be a complimentary programs provider. A lot of the regulatory framework is still up in the air but we do know that voluntary and incentive based programs work very well. Our members and their customers are on the frontlines as far as economic risks when planting crops and participating in carbon markets, means that they should be on the front line of economic benefits as well as spend a lot of time reporting on carbon.”
ARA’s reaction to the Senate passage of the Growing Climate Solutions Act.
More about ARA’s carbon working group.
