By SAM HANANEL ~ Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – Under heavy pressure from farm groups, the Obama administration is dropping an effort to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents.
The Labor Department says it is withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.
The agency says thousands of comments have expressed concern about the impact of the changes on small family-owned farms. Many farm groups have complained that the rules would upset traditions in which children often work alongside relatives other than parents
to learn how a farm operates.
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Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts were both quick to issue statements after the decision was made.
Moran said “American farmers and ranchers received welcome news this evening: the Department of Labor finally listened to them and withdrew its proposed youth farm labor rule, which would have fundamentally altered the future of agriculture in our country. If the Department would have moved forward with regulating the relationship between parents and children on their own farm, a dangerous precedent would have been set; virtually nothing would be off limits when it comes to government intrusion into our lives.
“Out of respect for the rural way of life, the Administration has agreed to not pursue this regulation further. Instead it will work with rural stakeholders – such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, FFA, and 4-H – to promote safety among youth workers in agriculture. This is exactly what we have been asking for all along – those who know agriculture best should have been consulted from the start.”
Senator Roberts issued this statement. “I am pleased the Administration has listened to reason and has withdrawn a highly criticized proposed rule that would have fundamentally altered the rural way of life in America for generations to come,” Roberts said. “Under the leadership of Kansas’ Senator Jerry Moran, farm country united against this short-sided proposal and once again commonsense prevails. The Administration should apply these lessons to all of its burdensome regulations.”
Government officials have said their goal was to protect children from life-threatening injuries.