Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/27/10

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will determine whether more concentrated animal feeding operations require regulation as part of a settlement struck Tuesday with environmental groups that had sued the Bush administration over water pollution concerns.

The National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Waterkeeper Alliance said their lawsuit, filed in early 2009, targeted a rule that "effectively exempted thousands of factory farms" from keeping animal waste out of waterways protected by the Clean Water Act.

"Under today's settlement, EPA will initiate a new national effort to track down factory farms operating without permits and determine for itself if they must be regulated," the news release states. "The specific information that EPA will ultimately require from individual facilities will be determined after a period of public comment. But the results of that investigation will enable the agency and the public to create stronger polluting controls in the future and make sure facilities are complying with current rules."

Michael Formica, chief environmental counsel for the National Pork Producers Council, could not be reached for comment by Meatingplace. However, he was quoted in a report by the Associated Press as saying EPA failed to consult farmers before settling with the environmental groups.

Formica also reportedly argued the deal conflicts with several court decisions, and that its implementation would cause further concentration of hogs because pork producers would have to expand their herds in order to pay for mandatory manure management systems.

EPA officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

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