EPA Response to Idaho Dairymen

 The EPA recently opted not to re-new an old agreement on enforcement of dairy and beef-cattle operations regulating such things as discharges of animal waste into state waters. Some dairy people thought the EPA was trying to find a way to increase fines. Jim Werntz, Director of Idaho’s EPA Office. “Regarding fines, EPA is in the business of getting environmental compliance. One of our tools is to do inspections and when people aren’t in compliance with the law, they can get a penalty and it’s a pretty significant penalty, so that is our business. We aren’t out to do fining, that’s not what we do, if we can go out and find 100% compliance with the environmental law we’re enforcing against or checking on, that’s success. We don’t get penalty money, there’s a lot of people that perceive that EPA collects fines and somehow enhances its own mission by doing so, we don’t actually ever see those resources. Those go to the U.S. Treasury and are distributed as Congress and the President see fit.