USDA’s Agricultural Air Quality Task Force (AAQTF) recently held the organizational meeting of the eighth two-year term for the panel in Washington, D.C.

AAQTF advises the secretary of Agriculture on agricultural air quality issues. Its mandate is to strengthen and coordinate USDA's air quality research efforts and identify cost effective ways to help the agriculture industry improve air quality and meet federal and local air quality emissions requirements.

AAQTF membership includes representatives from: 1) various production agriculture organizations, 2) air quality researchers from USDA research agencies and universities, 3) state environmental regulatory agencies and EPA and 4) other parties interested in agricultural air quality. Dave White, chief of USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), chairs the AAQTF.

The newly appointed task force’s membership includes seven members newly appointed and 19 reappointed. Re-appointments include: Bryan Shaw, Texas; Kevin Rogers, Arizona; Robert Avant, Texas; and Bill Norman, NCC vice president, Technical Services, Tennessee. New appointments include: Annette Sharp, Louisiana; and Brock Faulkner, Texas.

Additional information about the AAQTF is at www.airquality.nrcs.usda.gov/AAQTF/ .