EPA to address factory farm lawsuit by August
An effort to pressure the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to scrutinize factory farms is gaining momentum as the national organization will address concerns brought in a lawsuit by summer.
In a ruling filed by the U.S. Court of Appeals April 3, the EPA agreed to respond by Aug. 15 to the petition to revise the Clean Water Act regulations brought by a broad coalition of 32 public interest and environmental justice organizations, including Dodge County Concerned Citizens. They are all known as Food & Water Watch in the lawsuit. If successful, the petition could push EPA to adopt tighter water pollution standards for factory farms across the country.
The lawsuit was filed in 2017 where the groups sought to overhaul the agency’s water pollution regulations for factory farms, which are also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). In October 2022, the groups reached out to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals alleging unreasonable delay in acting to their 2017 lawsuit.
This is the second Food & Water Watch lawsuit this year to successfully pressure EPA to scrutinize factory farm water pollution. In January, the EPA announced a plan to undertake a detailed study of CAFO water pollution to determine whether and how to strengthen its Clean Water Act regulation of the industry.
“For decades, EPA has turned a blind eye to factory farm pollution. This regulatory negligence has failed to protect sensitive waterways and public health,” said Food & Water Watch Staff Attorney Emily Miller. “Answering our petition, which sets out a roadmap for EPA to fix this broken system and do its job, is the first step towards putting meaningful protections in place. After six years of delay, EPA’s commitment to an Aug. 15 deadline represents a move at lightning speed for the agency — we hope this indicates a commitment to finally give factory farm pollution the attention it requires. We look forward to finally receiving EPA’s decision.”
CAFOs generate and dispose of enormous quantities of animal waste. This waste contains nutrients responsible for dead zones and harmful algal blooms, pathogens like E. coli, antibiotics, and heavy metals, according to Food & Water Watch. They claim CAFOs are a leading source of water pollution nationally and are “point sources” of pollution subject to regulation under Clean Water Act permits. Yet more than 50 years after the Act’s passage, EPA estimates that only about 30% of the largest factory farms are regulated. Even where Clean Water Act permits are in place, they often fail to adequately protect waterways, the groups allege.
The 2017 lawsuit provides EPA with a roadmap to close loopholes that have enabled CAFOs to avoid regulation and to make permits stronger and more effective, the Food & Water Watch said.
The 2017 petition seeks to improve both the quantity and quality of CAFO permits by subjecting more factory farms to regulation and strengthening pollution permits for the facilities. Specific recommendations include:
* Revising the “agricultural stormwater” exemption, which has allowed many CAFOs to evade permitting
* Establishing a presumption that certain CAFOs pollute and require permits
* Improving discharge monitoring
* Prohibiting practices known to harm water quality, and
* Strengthening national pollution standards known as effluent limitation guidelines.
Besides the Dodge County group, other petitioners in the lawsuit include: Food & Water Watch, Center for Food Safety, Dakota Rural Action, the Environmental Integrity Project, Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Kewaunee CARES, Midwest Environmental Advocates, and North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. The petitioners are represented by Food & Water Watch, Earthrise Law Center, and Public Justice.
The 33 original petitioners include six national public interest advocacy organizations, and 27 state and community-based organizations based in Minnesota, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Collectively, petitioners represent millions of members and supporters from across the country.