Source: MEATINGPLACE, 10/2/15

A federal court dismissed a request by five non-profit groups that would have required livestock producers to submit information about their operations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to court documents.

The plaintiffs – Environmental Integrity Project, Food & Water Watch, Humane Society of the United States, Center for Food Safety and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement – had challenged EPA’s 2012 decision to withdraw a proposed rule that would have required reporting of the data.

The rule would have required livestock operations to provide facts including contact information, production area location, permitting status, number and types of animalsand quantity of manure and wastewater generated annually.

However, EPA withdrew the proposed rule in 2012, saying it would collect the information from other sources, including its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program and other federal, state and local programs.

In its decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said it would not substitute its judgment about how EPA should go about collecting information to carry out its mandate.

“Let’s hope this puts an end to these groups, including HSUS, trying to get information on farmers so they can file nuisance suits and otherwise harass people who are providing safe, wholesome products to domestic and international consumers,” National Pork Producers Council President Ron Prestage said in a statement.