Current:Home > NewsThe EPA is rejecting calls for tougher regulation of big livestock farms. It’s promising more study -FinTechWorld
The EPA is rejecting calls for tougher regulation of big livestock farms. It’s promising more study
View
Date:2025-04-12 14:32:42
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration Tuesday rejected pleas to strengthen regulation of large livestock farms that release manure and other pollutants into waterways, promising more study instead.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it had denied two petitions from environmental and community groups seeking revision of rules dealing with the nation’s biggest animal operations, which hold thousands of hogs, chickens and cattle.
“A comprehensive evaluation is essential before determining whether any regulatory revisions are necessary or appropriate,” an agency statement said.
In a letter to advocacy groups, Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox said EPA will look closely at its program overseeing the farms as well as existing pollution limits. The agency will establish a panel with representatives of agriculture, environmental groups, researchers and others to develop recommendations, she said.
“We want to hear from all voices and benefit from the findings of the most current research, and EPA is confident that these efforts will result in real progress and durable solutions to protecting the nation’s waters,” Fox said.
Food & Water Watch, one of dozens of organizations that petitioned EPA in 2017 to crack down on livestock pollution, said the response continues a half-century of inadequate oversight. The agency has not revised its regulations of the farms since 2008.
“Factory farms pose a significant and mounting threat to clean water, largely because EPA’s weak rules have left most of the industry entirely unregulated,” said Tarah Heinzen, legal director of Food & Water Watch. “The lack of urgency displayed in EPA’s decision doubles down on the agency’s failure to protect our water, and those who rely on it.”
Beef, poultry and pork have become more affordable staples in the American diet thanks to industry consolidation and the rise of giant farms. Yet federal and state environmental agencies often lack basic information such as where they’re located, how many animals they’re raising and how they deal with manure.
Runoff of waste and fertilizers from the operations — and from croplands where manure is spread — fouls streams, rivers and lakes. It’s a leading cause of algae blooms that create hazards in many waterways and dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie.
Under the Clean Water Act, EPA regulates large farms — known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs — covered by federal pollution permits. Federal law requires only those known to discharge waste to obtain permits, although some states make others do so.
EPA’s most recent tally, completed in May, shows 6,406 of the nation’s 21,539 CAFOs have permits.
The agency’s rules impose requirements on barns and feedlots where animals are held, plus manure storage facilities and land where manure and wastewater are spread.
While prohibiting releases to waterways, the rules make exceptions for discharges caused by severe rainfall and for stormwater-related runoff from croplands where waste was applied in keeping with plans that manage factors such as timing and amounts.
In her letter, Fox said EPA will study the extent to which CAFOs pollute waters and whether the problem is nationwide or concentrated in particular areas. It also will look into new technologies and practices that might bring improvements.
The advisory panel will have a number of meetings over 12-18 months, Fox said. After EPA gets the group’s recommendations and completes its own study, the agency will decide whether new rules are needed or whether better implementation and enforcement of existing ones would be more effective.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Man convicted of shooting Indianapolis officer in the throat sentenced to 87 years in prison
- Avalanche forecaster dies in snowslide while skiing on Oregon mountain
- The Daily Money: Trader Joe's tote goes viral
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Double-swiping the rewards card led to free gas for months — and a felony theft charge
- Get 20% Off Charlotte Tilbury, 50% Off Adidas, $600 Off Saatva Mattresses, $17 Comforters & More Deals
- Avalanche forecaster killed by avalanche he triggered while skiing in Oregon
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- National Plant a Flower Day 2024: Celebrate by planting this flower for monarch butterflies
Ranking
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- Jury convicts man in fatal stabbings of 2 women whose bodies were found in a Green Bay home
- Florida man claims self-defense in dog park death. Prosecutors allege it was a hate crime.
- What was nearly nude John Cena really wearing at the Oscars?
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Explosion destroys house in Pittsburgh area; no official word on any deaths, injuries
- Romanian court grants UK’s request to extradite Andrew Tate, once local legal cases are concluded
- Website warning of cyberattack in Georgia’s largest county removed after it confused some voters
Recommendation
Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
Proof Channing Tatum Is Already a Part of Zoë Kravitz’s Family
Airbnb bans indoor security cameras for all listings on the platform
Supreme Court extends pause on Texas law that would allow state police to arrest migrants
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
Who did the Oscars 2024 In Memoriam include? Full list of those remembered at the Academy Awards
Texans are acquiring running back Joe Mixon from the Bengals, AP source says
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer tell appeals judges that Jeffrey Epstein’s Florida plea deal protects her