EPA Sweetheart Deal with Factory Farms Exempts Polluters from Clean Air Act
Hastings Group
WASHINGTON, D.C.
(January 21, 2005) In the wake of the EPA release of its CAFO Air
Quality Compliance Agreement today, Michele M. Merkel, senior counsel
of the Environmental Integrity Project issued the following statement
today:
“These
EPA rules amount to a wholesale relaxation of the Clean Air Act as it
relates to factory farms, which are a major source of pollution in
rural America.
All
along, EPA has had the authority under the Clean Air Act to gather the
kind of data it needs to determine emission levels at these industrial
farming operations – it does not need the industry's permission.
The
EPA-proposed amnesty on imposing the Clean Air act protections for the
public can last until 2011. Given that EPA already has had a
moratorium on enforcement for the past four years, that means the
current Administration will stall permits and air pollution controls at
some facilities for more than a decade.
Why is
the EPA doing this? The industry's lobbyists who are operating
hand in glove with the Agency understand they can't defeat emission
controls outright, especially where the public's health is at stake,
but they understand that regulations deferred are money earned, so
their strategy is to postpone the day of reckoning.
This is
another example of what should be a scientific process conducted in the
public's best interest being hijacked by industry. Industry gets
to select the “independent monitoring contractor” who will select the
farms for testing and related steps. The scientific soundness of
the monitoring program can only be ensured if the monitoring protocol
is reviewed by qualified independent experts who do not have ties to
the livestock industry. Furthermore, we are also concerned that the
small number of farms EPA anticipates including in the data collection
process (28) will not provide a significant enough sample to be
representative.
What EPA
is proposing is a sell-out of the public in order to profit the
industry. In practice, this agreement will end up being even
worse than it looks now. Industry will use this agreement to try
and block citizen suits. The idea of preventing citizens from
exercising their rights to hold polluters accountable under federal law
for the next six years (or more) is troubling. Additionally, the
agreement allows companies that have been sued by citizens to sign up
for the amnesty.”
For more information, contact Michele M. Merkel at (202) 263-4452 or mmerkel@environmentalintegrity.org.
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