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Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Environment - Deal Eases Fines for Farms That Pollute; What this Means for Indiana

An AP story in the NY Times yesterday reported:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (AP) — The Bush administration will exempt thousands of farms that raise poultry, cattle and hogs from heavy fines for fouling the air and water with animal excrement in exchange for data to help curb future pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency has signed agreements with 2,681 animal feeding operations in the egg, chicken, turkey, dairy and hog industries. They would be exempt from having to pay potential fines of up to $27,500 a day for violations either in the past or over the next four years.

On Monday, the agency said its Environmental Appeals Board had approved the first 20 of those agreements, selecting accords it thought were representative of the whole. Ten are with swine-raising operations and 10 with operations that raise egg-laying birds.

The board said it had determined that the agreements were consistent with the Clean Air Act. Agency officials said the approvals set the stage for the remaining agreements to gain approval quickly. * * *

The agency said its consent agreements with the animal feeding operations would cover more than 6,700 farms in 42 states. The participating farms range from relatively small dairy operations with perhaps five dozen cows to large hog and dairy operations with tens of thousands of animals.

Pollutants to be monitored include soot and volatile organic compounds, as required by the Clean Air Act, and ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, as required by Superfund's emergency reporting provision.

By signing on, the farms agree to abide by clean air, hazardous waste and emergency reporting laws after the data are collected. They would pay $2,500 into an E.P.A. fund and agree to let agency-approved contractors monitor the air. The fund would pay for two years of air monitoring at 28 to 30 farms nationwide at a cost of up to $500,000 each.

Companies also would have to agree to pay civil penalties of $200 to $100,000, depending on the size and number of farms they operate. Those fines would cover presumed violations, past and present. * * *

Agency officials say they retain authority to take immediate action against any company if its operations pose an imminent or substantial threat to public health, and the deal will not affect state and local agencies' enforcement of their laws for corporate farm operations. The agency has settled two recent Clean Air Act cases involving animal feeding operations.

Randy Spronk, chairman of the National Pork Producers Council's environmental policy committee, said the agreements would allow the agency "to use sound science to develop practical policies that work for pork producers of all sizes and types."

Environmentalists plan to file suit challenging the new consent arrangements.

"This decision is a great disservice for people who live around large factory farms," said Ed Hopkins, environmental quality director for the Sierra Club. "It basically gives these farms a free ride on the backs of the public. There's really nothing in this that holds the polluters accountable for the toxic air emissions they release."

For background, see these ILB entries from 1/22/05, 1/30/05, and 4/4/05.

Here is EPA's press release from 1/30/06.

What does this mean for Indiana?

Here is EPA's list of the first 20 of the 2,681 agreements it has signed. Three of them are located in Indiana.

So fifteen percent of the first twenty farms exempted by EPA under this program are located in Indiana. If the percentage holds true, and if the NY Times analysis is correct, this means that 15% of the 2,681 agreements already signed, or 402 Indiana farms "that raise poultry, cattle and hogs [will be exempt] from heavy fines for fouling the air and water with animal excrement in exchange for data to help curb future pollution" under this EPA program. The Times story also has indicates that EPA ultimately plans for the program to cover 6,700 farms.

Here is a link to the 41-page agreement, which the ILB has not yet reviewed.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 31, 2006 08:29 AM
Posted to Environment