Jacqui Fatka reported yesterday at Feedstuffs Online that, “On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency released guidance documents to assist farmers in reporting air releases of hazardous substances from animal waste at farms. EPA is making this information available to give farmers time to review and prepare for the reporting deadline, which is currently set for Nov. 15, 2017.
“Although large feeding operations were previously exempt from filing the paperwork, a court ruled earlier this year that EPA’s 2008 rule could not exempt animal feeding operations from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA) hazardous substance reporting requirements or exempt all but the largest feeding operations from state and local reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
“‘EPA is working diligently to address undue regulatory burden on American farmers,’ EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said. ‘While we continue to examine our options for reporting requirements for emissions from animal waste, EPA’s guidance is designed to help farmers comply with the current requirements.'”
The Feedstuffs article noted that, “The EPA guidance information includes links to resources that farmers can use to calculate emissions tailored to specific species of livestock. View EPA’s guidance and frequently asked questions on reporting air emissions from animal waste at https://www.epa.gov/epcra/cercla-and-epcra-reporting-requirements-air-releases-hazardous-substances-animal-waste-farms.
“EPA will revise this guidance, as necessary, to reflect additional information to assist farm owners and operators to meet reporting obligations. Interested parties may submit comments or suggestions by Nov. 24, 2017, to cercla103.guidance@epa.gov.”
