CENTRAL VALLEY – Three San Joaquin Valley locals will have the chance over the next two years to learn about air quality issues facing agricultural sectors throughout the United States, supply their own knowledge to help reduce emissions elsewhere and apply their work on the task force to their work at home.
On Nov. 18, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced new appointments to its Task Force on Agricultural Air Quality Research, which included four officials from California, three of which are based in the San Joaquin Valley region. According to a USDA press release, the task force promotes the department’s research efforts and works to identify cost-effective ways to improve air quality within the agriculture industry.
“Minimizing agriculture’s impact on air quality is a collective interest of task force members, which enables us to harness the full capacity and resources brought to the table to confront air pollution and produce tangible solutions for emerging and existing air quality challenges,” said Terry Cosby, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) chief, in a press release.
Appointees to the task force from California included Frank Mitloehner, Chris McGlothlin, Manuel Cunha and Samir Sheikh. Mitloehner is a professor and air quality specialist who works with the University of California Davis’ Cooperative Extension. McGlothlin, Cunha and Sheikh all work in the ag and air quality sector and are based out of Fresno.
McGlothlin works for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association as its director of technical services, Cunha is president of the Nisei Farmers League and Sheikh is the executive director and Air Pollution Control Officer for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
McGlothlin said he is most looking forward to how much he will learn from the other agricultural air quality experts on the task force, as well as the chance to collaborate with university researchers and learn from their expertise. His boss at the Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, Roger Isom, has served on the task force previously, which got McGlothlin interested in it himself.
“He really talked about how influential it is, one, being able to have a direct conduit to providing recommendations to the USDA or working with university researchers who can dive into calculating … emissions reductions or looking at a specific source and getting a good understanding of what the big emissions are from that activity,” McGlothlin said.
According to the USDA, the task force may provide recommendations for USDA research related to agricultural air quality issues, ensure that the implementation of USDA practices for air quality and climate change promote environmental justice goals and address reactive nitrogen emissions. Additionally, the task force will focus on discussions of agricultural greenhouse gas and carbon sequestration topics, including climate-start agriculture and sustainable solutions, and will provide guidance to the USDA secretary regarding the impact of EPA regulations on air quality standards.
Another focus of the task force will be to discuss “state and local air quality regulations related to agriculture and the potential impact on agricultural operations in those areas,” according to the USDA.
This is one area specifically where individuals from the San Joaquin Valley can lend their experiences to the rest of the task force, considering that the poor air quality in the Valley has led to the Valley Air District implementing “some of the most stringent regulatory emission control rules in the nation,” McGlothlin said
“We get that experience of some pretty stringent rules across all different industry sectors that operate within the Central Valley,” McGlothlin said. “Coming onto the board having that background of maybe some of the better techniques to control emissions more specifically within agriculture … can provide some insight into what our experience has been with some tighter regulations or needing to meet reduction goals.”
The task force consists of 27 members appointed to a two-year term, and involves individuals who work across the agricultural sector. Members are producers, industry representatives and researchers and members of regulatory organizations who all have an interest and expertise in air quality issues associated with agriculture, according to a USDA press release.
Other appointees to the task force from across the U.S. include Kevin Abernathy and Robert Burns, Tennessee; Brian Cochrane, Washington; Iris Feng, North Dakota; Daniel Fields, Michigan; Kelley Green and Bryan Shaw, Texas; Thomas Haren and Sheryl Magzamen, Colorado; Maia Hutt, Sally Shaver and Lingjuan Wang-Li, North Carolina; Jimmy Kinder, Oklahoma; April Leytem, Idaho; Hong Li, Delaware; Lara Moody and D’Ann Williams, Maryland; Paul Ollerton and Marguerite Tan, Arizona; Philip Silva, Kentucky; Rick Stowell, Nebraska; Rod Venterea, Minnesota; and Joseph Wolfgang, Pennsylvania.
