Andrew Wheeler, the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), visited Southern Belle Farm in McDonough on his tour of Georgia on Wednesday, May 27.
This is his first official trip outside of Washington D.C. since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Wheeler was joined by Commissioner Gary Black, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, and Mary Walker, EPA Administrator for Region 4.
In his address, Wheeler began by giving an update on the impacts of COVID-19 on the region’s food supply.
“Traveling up and down the east coast, it has really been hit hard by COVID-19 over the past several months,” said Wheeler. “The food supply for restaurants has really taken a hit. Keeping up with demand in grocery stores has been hard. There are certainly some supply chain issues. I talked to Secretary [Sonny] Puedue at USDA, and I know he’s working hard on supply chain issues.”
“As the country works to regain some normalcy in the next several weeks, the EPA will work with the ag community to ensure the supply chains are safely turned back on, with as little disruption as possible,” said Wheeler.
Also discussed by Wheeler was the new Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which he dubbed “one of the proudest successes” of the EPA over the past few years.
The rule, published in the Federal Register in March, helps to define the “Waters of the United States,” according to the EPA website. The new rule “includes four simple categories of jurisdictional waters, provides clear exclusions for many water features that traditionally have not been regulated, and defines terms in the regulatory text that have never been defined before.”
“This rule gave greater certainty to states and landowners and especially farmers, who have suffered for generations with uncertainty over what exactly constitutes navigable waters,” said Wheeler.
Wheeler also discussed the EPA’s recent flexibility on pesticide makers during COVID-19, enabling more surface disinfectant products to be available to consumers.
“Pesticide makers and disinfectant makers are often the same companies and the EPA has worked to help ease the logistical burdens during the height of the crisis,” said Wheeler. “This flexibility made it easier to produce disinfectant products for use during the pandemic when the regular supply chains were disrupted.”
By March 6, the EPA had approved 40 surface disinfectant products that are effective against COVID-19. As of Wednesday, May 27, Wheeler said the EPA had approved over 400.
“In the past, it took us two to three months to approve one disinfectant. Our staff are now doing it in two to three weeks,” said Wheeler. “We have a very dedicated group of career scientists that have been working around the clock to approve disinfectants for people to use.”
For a full list of approved disinfectant products, visit epa.gov/ coronavirus.
The EPA administrator also emphasized that he and his administration were focused on listening to the concerns of the area farmers.
“Because agriculture and agribusiness would combine as the largest industry in Georgia, we at EPA are happy to help the industry grow stronger,” said Wheeler. “I really do believe over the last three and a half years, you hopefully have seen a difference in the way the federal EPA is working with farmers across the country.”
Jake Carter, owner of Southern Belle Farm, expressed the importance of continued discussions between farmers and the EPA, stating “the future depends on it.”
“If we don’t have conversations like we are having today, there will be no future,” said Carter.
Commissioner Black also stated his appreciation for the relationship between the EPA and Georgia’s farmers.
“We are grateful for our relationship with Administrator Wheeler and appreciate the agency’s efforts in addressing issues that are important to our farmers,” said Black. “We look forward to continued collaboration between our agriculture community and federal agencies in the future.”
