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Johanns: Grain-System Fines
'Violate The Law'

Special to The Independent
Nebraska U.S. Senator Mike Johanns is demanding that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stop harassing small family-owned farms here in Nebraska. One of the farms targeted by OSHA is in Holt County. OSHA issued a $132,000 fine against the farm though no injuries have occurred. Johanns says the Nebraska case involves a farm with three employees with only one of those not being a part of the family. The Senator did not name the operation in question, but did note in a blog post that the Nebraska farm is located in Holt County. An online review of OSHA fines indicates the last Holt County grain-system inspection to result in a fine was on June 8, 2011. OSHA issued notifications in regards to safety and precautions to grain-elevator operations in August 2010 and February 2011. OSHA claims that these grain storage facilities that are on farm property and that are owned by local farmers are not part of the "farming operation" and using it set a precedent to regulate. According to a letter issued recently by Johanns, he says that the claim sounds ridiculous. "To say that's separate and distinct from the farming operation is just crazy. I mean to every farmer out there they must be laughing at what OSHA is doing. If this wasn't so serious it would be a laughing matter, because it's crazy what they've come up with," Johanns said. Johanns, along with 42 of his Senate colleagues, is requesting that OSHA immediately stop their unlawful regulation of family farms. The senators also directed OSHA to issue updated guidance correcting their misinterpretation of current law by Feb. 1, 2014. The request was made in a joint letter to the Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who oversees OSHA. As Johanns has said since raising the issue on the Senate floor earlier this week, This is the latest attempt by the Administration to expand their regulatory reach by making an end-run around Congress and the American people. OSHA is out of line here, not our hard working ag producers. I am going to work to ensure OSHA and the rest of the Administration plays by the rules. This letter is a strong first step and I appreciate the support of my colleagues. Since 1976 Congress has exempted small, family-run farms from OSHA regulations, but in a 2011 memo OSHA asserted that on-farm grain storage and handling was not part of farm operations. The memo essentially expanded OSHA's regulatory scope to nearly every farm in the country without going through the established rule making process that allows Congressional review and public comment, in defiance of the law. In addition to Johanns, the letter is signed by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mitch McConnell
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