Hoeven, Moran support EPA proposal to end reporting requirements for livestock emissions

U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) commended a proposed rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would discontinue reporting requirements for livestock emissions.

“Imposing reporting requirements for livestock emissions from animals in a pasture doesn’t make sense and only leads to higher costs for both producers and consumers,” Sen. Hoeven said on Oct. 30 following EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s signature on the proposed rule.

If finalized, the proposed rule would provide livestock producers with greater regulatory certainty and also would permit emergency response officials to focus on readiness and emergencies, not animal waste, according to the EPA.

“It was never the intent of Congress for normal odors from animal waste on farms to fall under our nation’s emergency hazardous waste reporting requirements, so I appreciate Administrator Wheeler taking definitive action,” Sen. Moran said. “The resources of our emergency responders ought to be focused on protecting the public from true environmental and chemical emergencies, not odors from animal waste.”

The proposed EPA rule would amend the emergency release notification regulations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) to clarify that reporting of air emissions from animal waste at farms is not required under EPCRA.

Sen. Hoeven called the proposed rule “common sense” and explained that under EPCRA and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), “the release of hazardous substances into the air over certain thresholds must comply with requirements.

“These requirements were not intended to affect animal agriculture and instead were meant to address industrial pollution, chemical plant explosions and the release of hazardous materials into the environment,” he said.

In February, Sen. Hoeven had urged the EPA to find a permanent solution to the livestock emissions regulations after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted EPA’s request to delay implementation of the rules.

“Requiring farmers and ranchers to accurately measure emissions from animal waste in an open pasture setting is unreasonable and unworkable,” Sen. Hoeven said that month. “Producers will face tremendous uncertainty as they attempt to comply with these mandates, meaning higher costs for them and consumers.”

Additionally, while the appeals court’s decision to grant a delay was positive, he said the EPA needed “to permanently resolve this issue and protect our farmers and ranchers from these burdensome regulations.”

Wheeler, who signed the proposed rule while in Kansas with Sen. Moran this week, held an all-hands meeting with EPA’s employees, met with union leadership in EPA’s Region 7 office, and toured EPA’s Region 7 Lab with the senator, according to the agency.

While at the lab, Wheeler signed the proposed EPCRA exemption and in addition to Sen. Moran was joined by Kansas Department of Agriculture Secretary Jackie McClaskey and members of the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association, Nebraska Farm Bureau, and the National Pork Producers Council, among others.