02/29/08 Exempting livestock emissions reports

Agriculture has fought for toxic air emission reporting exemptions while environmentalists oppose that notion. EPA says gases from farm manure pits can pose a health threat but the agency claims that local emergency responders don't use those farm operation reports which track things like ammonia emission levels. American Farm Bureau's Paul Schlegel says the Environmental Protection Agency's move to exempt farms from air emission reporting does not affect another part of the superfund law regulating manure as a hazardous waste. SCHLEGEL "This does not affect that broader issue of how manure is treated and the liability that could be attached to it if the courts decide that it is a hazardous pollutant under superfund." EPA's public comment period ends March 28th and the exemption could take effect in October. SCHLEGEL "You will see a reduced paperwork burden on some operations and it will allow people to go about the business of what they want to do as opposed to spending their time filing reports that don't serve a purpose." Several big farms have been sued for damages and controls on emissions that are not currently limited from farms. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott