Bill Overview
Title: FUELS Act
Description: This bill increases thresholds for requiring a farm to have a plan to address oil spills. Currently, regulations require a farm to have an oil spill control and prevention plan that is certified by a professional engineer if the farm's aboveground oil storage capacity is above a certain threshold or if the farm has a reportable oil discharge history. A farm with lower aboveground storage capacity and no reportable history is either allowed to self-certify its plan or not required to have a plan at all, depending on the farm's storage capacity. Under the bill, the Environmental Protection Agency must require a farm to have a professionally certified plan if the farm has an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity of 40,000 gallons or more, whereas the current threshold is 20,000 gallons. The bill also raises the aggregate capacity thresholds at which a farm with no reportable oil discharge history may self-certify its plan or is not required to have a plan. The bill also limits when a farm's aboveground oil storage containers on separate parcels shall count toward the farm's oil storage capacity for the purposes of these thresholds.
Sponsors: Rep. Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [R-AR-1]
Target Audience
Population: Farmers with aboveground oil storage
Estimated Size: 250000
- The bill impacts farmers who have aboveground oil storage as part of their operations, allowing larger capacity before requiring certified plans.
- Currently, farms with as low as 20,000 gallons of oil would require professionally certified plans; by raising this to 40,000 gallons, fewer farms will need such plans.
- Larger operations that store significant amounts of oil will still require certified plans, while smaller farms may have relaxed requirements.
- By raising the thresholds, smaller farming operations might be less burdened by regulatory compliance, potentially reducing costs for smaller-scale farmers.
Reasoning
- The majority of US farmers are considered small to medium operations where overhead costs such as professionally certified oil spill plans can be burdensome.
- Many farms do not meet existing thresholds for mandatory professional certification but could benefit from self-certification or exemption to reduce costs.
- Larger farms often have more resources and infrastructure to manage legal compliance, so they may be less impacted by relaxed regulations.
- Limiting the burden on small-scale farms can contribute to their economic viability and sustainability, thus improving wellbeing among smaller farm owners.
- While some farms with lower storage may see an improvement in economic conditions due to cost savings, not all would have significant changes in their daily operations.
Simulated Interviews
Corn Farmer (Iowa)
Age: 54 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 5
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 15/20
Statement of Opinion:
- This policy helps us keep our compliance costs down, allowing more investment into our crops and farm upgrades.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 2 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 3 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 10 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 6 | 5 |
Dairy Farmer (California)
Age: 37 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 7
Duration of Impact: 2.0 years
Commonness: 8/20
Statement of Opinion:
- Our farm won't see much change; we've been compliant at higher thresholds and will continue to do so.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 3 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 20 | 6 | 6 |
Rancher (Texas)
Age: 29 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 18/20
Statement of Opinion:
- Relief from strict plans helps small operators like me focus more on ranching rather than deal with paperwork.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 8 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 7 | 5 |
Grain Farmer (Nebraska)
Age: 62 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 4
Duration of Impact: 5.0 years
Commonness: 12/20
Statement of Opinion:
- More flexibility in these regulations means a lot, even if we don't exceed current thresholds.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Year 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Year 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Year 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 10 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 5 | 5 |
Tobacco Farmer (Kentucky)
Age: 45 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 7
Duration of Impact: 0.0 years
Commonness: 10/20
Statement of Opinion:
- Our operations are already efficient, so this bill doesn't change much for us directly.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 3 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 10 | 7 | 7 |
| Year 20 | 7 | 7 |
Organic Vegetable Farmer (New York)
Age: 51 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 8
Duration of Impact: 5.0 years
Commonness: 14/20
Statement of Opinion:
- We support policies that empower small farmers without unnecessary regulation.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 2 | 9 | 8 |
| Year 3 | 9 | 8 |
| Year 5 | 9 | 8 |
| Year 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Year 20 | 8 | 8 |
Rice Farmer (Mississippi)
Age: 67 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 0.0 years
Commonness: 7/20
Statement of Opinion:
- This legislation won't help us much since we must maintain comprehensive spill plans anyway.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 5 | 5 |
Tree Farmer (Oregon)
Age: 43 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 0.0 years
Commonness: 9/20
Statement of Opinion:
- All my storage management is on point, this wouldn't really affect us.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 6 | 6 |
| Year 20 | 6 | 6 |
Citrus Farmer (Florida)
Age: 39 | Gender: male
Wellbeing Before Policy: 5
Duration of Impact: 10.0 years
Commonness: 11/20
Statement of Opinion:
- Raised storage thresholds offer a chance to direct funds to more critical farm investments.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 5 |
| Year 2 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 10 | 7 | 5 |
| Year 20 | 6 | 5 |
Soybean Farmer (Wisconsin)
Age: 58 | Gender: female
Wellbeing Before Policy: 6
Duration of Impact: 7.0 years
Commonness: 13/20
Statement of Opinion:
- Any measure that reduces regulatory compliance hardships is appreciated by those like us.
Wellbeing Over Time (With vs Without Policy)
| Year | With Policy | Without Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 2 | 7 | 6 |
| Year 3 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 10 | 8 | 6 |
| Year 20 | 7 | 6 |
Cost Estimates
Year 1: $5000000 (Low: $4000000, High: $6000000)
Year 2: $5000000 (Low: $4000000, High: $6000000)
Year 3: $4500000 (Low: $3500000, High: $5500000)
Year 5: $4500000 (Low: $3500000, High: $5500000)
Year 10: $4000000 (Low: $3000000, High: $5000000)
Year 100: $400000 (Low: $350000, High: $450000)
Key Considerations
- The cost to the EPA primarily involves changing enforcement and monitoring of the revised spill plan requirements.
- Assessing the thresholds could make spill control less stringent and could involve environmental risks.
- The savings for medium-sized farms could be offset by potential risks if oil spills become more frequent.