Cattlemen Concerned About EPA Guidelines

August 13, 1999

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has "major concerns" about the draft guidance released last week by the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce water quality standards on animal feeding operations. A major concern is an attempt to impose liability on the operations for off-site land applications of manure by another party.

"EPA is attempting to broaden its legal authority to require farmers who apply manure to get a permit, while those using commercial fertilizer would not be held to the same standard," said NCBA. Also some of the EPA guideline definitions "are dangerously imprecise."

For example, EPA's guidelines say that "exceptionally large" facilities should be subjected to stricter regulations, but "exceptionally large" is not defined. "The use of size limitation and location are stringent restrictions on producers that do not take into account the huge differences in climate, topography and environmental concerns," says NCBA. In wet climates, runoff can present a problem unlike semi-arid land in the West.

"We have been working diligently with the EPA throughout the process and are pleased that many of our comments and suggestions have been incorporated into the guidelines," says John Pemberton, NCBA associate director of environmental issues. "However, there are still some issues of serious concern for our members that need to be resolved in the next couple months. We will be meeting with the EPA and working on comments in response to the guidelines to convince the EPA to address our remaining concerns."

The guidelines, originally scheduled to be released in May, set a time-line for states to implement them by January. But the 60-day comment period won't end until October. "Two months is hardly enough time for states to make significant changes in their regulatory programs," says Pemberton. "This process needs to be a cooperative effort rather than an EPA headquarters top-down process."