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Public Meeting on EPA's Animal Feeding Operations Agreement (Ark.)

Release Date: 4/25/2005
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     On Wednesday, April 27, representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be in Fayetteville, Ark., to visit with local farmers and discuss the Air Quality Compliance Agreement for Animal Feeding Operations.  The meeting will be at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center, 1335 W. Knapp (1 mile north of University of Arkansas campus on Highway 112) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. There is a July 1 deadline for farmers to sign up to participate in the agreement.

     There have been widespread misunderstandings about the reasons for the emissions monitoring study and the benefits from it.  Recently, groups have alleged that emissions from animal feeding operations have violated provisions of the Clean Air Act, as well as other acts not previously considered applicable to the farming community.  In addition, a 2002 report by the National Academy of Sciences called on EPA to improve its method for estimating emissions from animal feeding operations.

     EPA does not have enough information to know if air emissions from animal feeding operations need to be regulated under the Clean Air Act.  This industry-funded emissions monitoring program will provide EPA and the farming community with the background needed to determine if there are any federal air compliance requirements.  

     A voluntary compliance agreement makes this monitoring study possible.  Participants in the study agree to pay a small fee based on the size and number of farms in the operation, and contribute to a fund that will cover the cost of the two-year study.  About 28 farms will be selected for the program. They will agree to allow monitoring at their barns, lagoons, and waste or manure storage piles. Participation in the study implies no admission of EPA air quality breaches.  Farms will not be sued for past violations, provided there is no imminent danger to human health.

     More information is available at https://www.epa.gov/agriculture/animals.html and https://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/agreements/caa/cafo-agr-0501.html.