News

October 26, 2007

Farm Bill falls short for Casey

Scranton senator still presses power line fight, more aid to dairy farms.

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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Although U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Scranton, was happy to see the 2007 Farm Bill move out of the Senate Agricultural Committee on Thursday, it didn’t quell his unhappiness about a few amendments that failed to get support.

Casey introduced an amendment that would protect farmland from the proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor, or NIETC. Under the proposal, the power companies can bypass local and state approvals to locate a new power line, instead going to the federal government to get the OK. The federal government would also approve the use of eminent domain to acquire lands to locate the lines.

Three-quarters of Pennsylvania, 52 out of 67 counties including Luzerne, has been designated part of the NIETC.

Casey’s amendment would have prohibited the use of eminent domain in placing electric transmission towers on vital agriculture lands.

The amendment received one vote – from Casey -- and failed to make it out of committee for inclusion in the Farm Bill. But that doesn’t mean Casey is giving up.

“It’s a very big mistake for the federal government to completely usurp the authority of the state and local governments on locating power lines. I do not trust the Department of Energy to do the right thing for Pennsylvania,” he said. “If they want a long, drawn-out fight on this, they’ve come to the right guy. This fight could get heated.”

Casey is looking at other means to offer the amendment. Such as an appropriations battle or as stand-alone legislation.

In the meantime, the senator said he will be visiting Pennsylvania communities to raise awareness among citizens on the seriousness of the issue.

“If you’re a citizen, Washington is telling you to get out of the way, you don’t have any power,” Casey said. “This is something Pennsylvania has to be heard on.”

Another amendment designed to help dairy farmers by incorporating the cost of production into the price they receive for milk was introduced by Casey but withdrawn due to a lack of support.

Casey said that if there are other ways to include the cost of production in the Farm Bill, he will pursue them. Still, the outlook for the measure remained grim.

“I’m not optimistic we’ll get a cost of production. You have other parts of the country who think it will impact them and don’t want to see the East get an advantage,” Casey said.

He added his other two dairy amendments – one that gives dairy farmers more information on how prices are set and another that requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to consider cost of production before allowing processors to lower prices paid to farmers – did make it into the bill.

KEY POINTS

Casey cited the following areas as portions of the 2007 Farm Bill that will help Pennsylvania:

• Conservation, Open Space and Chesapeake Bay Conservation: Casey secured $165 million in mandatory funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program for conservation projects in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, which includes Luzerne County. To help preserve open space, Casey helped secure an increase in funding for the Community Forest Program. This program provides grants to local and county governments to purchase privately-owned forest land that would otherwise be developed.

The Farm Bill also increased conservation spending by $3.7 billion.

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program: Provides healthy food to schools with a high percentage of students in the free and reduced price lunch program. The Farm Bill includes a funding increase to $1.1 billion over five years to extend the program to every state in the country. Pennsylvania will receive $7 million a year in funding for the program.

• Colony Collapse Disorder: The Farm Bill includes an authorization for a $20 million-a-year study of the growing problem of Colony Collapse Disorder for honey bee colonies.

Tom Venesky, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7230.

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