Senator Chuck Grassley released the following comment after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally exempted milk and milk product containers from the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Rule that is intended to prevent oil from discharging into U.S. waterways. Grassley was a cosponsor of legislation to expedite a decision by the EPA to exempt milk containers from regulations initially intended for oil spills.
Grassley is also leading an effort to keep the EPA from placing further economic pressure on rural America if the agency chooses to impose more stringent regulations on dust. Here is Grassley's comment on the milk exemption.
"Dairy producers across the country are breathing a sigh of relief. In an already difficult economic environment, this attempt by the EPA to apply burdensome and unnecessary regulations would have put many of these hard working dairy farmers in an extremely precarious position, and could easily have increased prices for consumers at the grocery store. To think that milk would be treated the same as oil defies common sense. The agency seems oblivious to the tremendous impact its rules and regulations have on the general public and agriculture in particular. I appreciate EPA finally getting the job done and doing the right thing in this instance. I hope this is a sign that common sense won't take a back seat to ideology in the future."