EPA Drops Livestock Emissions Models
EPA Drops Nationwide Livestock Air Emissions Models, Citing Outdated Data
LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dropped efforts to create nationwide air-emissions models for livestock and poultry operations because data is limited and outdated, making it impossible to create credible estimates for animal feeding operations, the agency said at the end of last week.
The EPA announcement on a two-decade-old effort affects about 2,600 animal feeding operations across the country that joined EPA's 2005 air compliance agreement. Those producers funded a national study to determine whether livestock and poultry facilities could trigger air permitting or reporting requirements.
Agriculture groups including the National Pork Producers Council and the National Milk Producers Federation have long held that such modeling could lead to more regulation of farms.
"This move confirms what farmers have long known: Every farm is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all model to apply to them," NPPC president and Iowa farmer Rob Brenneman said in a statement following the EPA announcement.
"Each farm should be judged on its own factor...