Petition asks EPA to regulate GHG emissions from "factory farms" under Clean Air Act
The Humane Society and a coalition of other environmental groups have filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to classify factory farms as a source of greenhouse gases and regulate them accordingly under the Clean Air Act. Petitioners allege that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) emit excessive amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, both greenhouse gases. According to the petitioners, these emissions are the result of farm animals being raised in small spaces in increasingly large numbers at a few facilities.
The environmental groups allege that reducing emissions of major pollutants from these CAFOs can improve human health, reduce suffering of farm animals, protect habitat for wildlife, and reduce the effects of climate change and other environmental problems. The petition contends that regulating air pollution from CAFOs will create an incentive for new CAFOs to reduce emissions through alternate means of production. A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) found that animal farms were responsible for contributing 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions—more than even the transport sector.
Currently the EPA does not require that CAFOs meet any emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. However, some scientific surveys, including the US Inventory Report adopted by the EPA, establish that CAFOs meet the standards for regulation under section 111 of the Clean Air Act as a source that causes or contributes significantly to air pollution. Despite this evidence, agriculture maintains a strong constituency in Congress, including House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who has been vocal about the need to exempt farms from new climate change legislation.
In addition the the Humane Society, petitioners include the Association of Irritated Residents; Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment; Clean Air Task Force; Dairy Education Alliance; El Comité para el Bienestar de Earlimart; Environmental Integrity Project; Friends of the Earth; and Waterkeeper Alliance.
http://www.globalclimatelaw.com/admin/trackback/159102
