After two years and more than 12,000 public comments, the Environmental Protection Agency has revised the controversial Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) regulations into " a more reasonable and less burdensome package," Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s regulatory specialist said today.
"You can’t beat common sense, responsive government," said Marla Peek.
Farm Bureau has questioned the accuracy of EPA data used to formulate CAFO rules, which would have expanded EPA’s regulatory scope from an estimated 3,000 livestock operations to 39,000 nationwide. Under the new rules, 12-15,000 operations will be covered.
When the rules to reduce residue from livestock waste were first announced more than two years ago, it appeared they were needlessly targeting many small and mid-size family farmers who could ill-afford to comply with the regulations. Peek said the Bush Administration has been working to make the regulations fair and more balanced.
"We were particularly concerned about Oklahoma ranchers who have stocker cattle operations that fluctuate in numbers of cattle during the year. These producers will not be included in the new CAFO rules," Peek said.
The regulatory specialist is quick to point out this does not exempt producers from all environmental regulations.
"It absolutely isn’t a license to pollute," Peek said. "Farm Bureau has always stressed using conservation practices and seeking the necessary assistance to be good environmental stewards."
Peek said the new rules emphasize the importance of maintaining and funding water quality programs contained in the farm bill.
"These programs authorize about $1 billion a year to address problems from livestock waste, but the new EPA regulations will achieve little if we don’t proceed with the current programs," Peek said.
The Farm Bureau specialist added the revised federal rules are more in line with Oklahoma’s current laws, which are already some of the stricter environmental regulations in the country.
