AMI Tells Its CAFO Views to EPA

March 2, 2001

The American Meat Institute has told the Environmental Protection Agency its views on the agency's controversial proposed rule regulating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), outlining a range of concerns.

The agency held the first of a series of nationwide meetings in Washington, DC, and drew key representatives from agriculture and state and local pollution control agencies. AMI outlined its concerns to EPA, and then met the following day with senior agency water officials to discuss the measure in greater detail.

CAFOs seek to tighten current regulations on large animal feedlots and extend coverage to smaller operations nationwide. Additionally, through a new "co-permitting" system, the proposal dramatically changes the regulatory horizon for processors who do not own animal feeding operations but have what EPA considers to be "substantial operational control" over activities at producer sites. AMI's Environmental Committee is developing the industry's response to the proposed rule to meet the May deadline for public comment.

AMI urged its members to attend any of the eight public meetings EPA has scheduled during March. Baltimore, MD, and Ames, IA, will host the first sessions over the next week. For more specific information on the meetings and the rule, visit EPA's updated Office of Water CAFO web site at http://www.epa.gov/owm/afos/rule.htm.