The Environmental Protection Agency has ended its effort to develop methods for measuring air pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations, closing a process that began more than 20 years ago. The decision ends the Air Compliance Agreement, under which thousands of facilities had been protected from legal action while taking part in an industry-funded study.
Large livestock and poultry operations can release fine particulate matter, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds. These emissions can come from ventilation fans and manure lagoons. The Clean Air Act requires facilities that exceed pollution thresholds to obtain permits, while other federal laws set emissions-reporting requirements.
The agreement followed disputes in the early 2000s over whether emissions from these operations could be measured adequately. Adopted in 2005, it was intended to produce tools for estimating emissions and determining whether farms needed permits or had to report pollution. The EPA did not produce the promised estimation methods, and a 2017 report by the agency’s Office of Inspector General criticized delays.
In its October 30 announcement, the EPA said farms have changed since the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study was conducted, and that its data are too old and limited to support methods farmers could rely on. Acting Assistant Administrator Abigale Tardif said the agency did not want to issue figures it could not substantiate.
The National Pork Producers Council welcomed the decision, saying farms differ and cannot be assessed through a single model. Food & Water Watch legal director Tarah Heinzen, whose organization has challenged the agency over CAFO pollution, argued that the move leaves the administration without plans to regulate these emissions.
The agreement’s end does not remove Clean Air Act permitting obligations for facilities that exceed emissions thresholds. Heinzen said state models and research on particular types of operations could still help assess pollution, although the EPA has not established a national set of emissions-estimation methods. The agreement did not cover methane, and the source reports that livestock facilities are blocked from reporting methane emissions in annual spending bills.
Sources: Inside Climate News.