As part of an effort toforge a partnership with the agricultural community, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently soliciting nominations for an independent agricultural advisory group, the Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC).
“The FRRCC provides an excellent forum for EPA to engage with a diverse range of agricultural stakeholders to deal with complex environmental issues that are important to agriculture,” says Lawrence Elworth, agricultural counselor to the EPA administrator. “We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the committee on agriculture and environmental issues.”
A Federal Register notice published on Feb. 13, 2012, solicited nominations for new members on the committee. The committee’s charter was renewed and filed with Congress on Feb. 17, 2012, and will be effective for two more years.
EPA established the FRRCC in 2008 to provide advice, information and recommendations to the administrator on a broad range of environmental issues important to agriculture and rural communities.
The committee meets twice yearly, and consists of approximately25 members representing academia, industry (e.g., farm groups and allied industries), non-governmental organizations, and state, local and tribal governments.
More information is available online at http://epa.gov/ofacmo/frrcc/index.html.