The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been very busy as of late. They passed an animal welfare initiative in California and forced other states to negotiation with them on changes in how animals are confined, or risk face similar ballot initiatives. Thus far the HSUS has been good at getting what they want. What they want now, though, may be too big a lift.As Ken Anderson is reporting for Brownfield online, the HSUS is joining several other environmental organizations that are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate confined animal feed operations (CAFO) under the Clean Air Act. “The groups submitted a petition late last month asking that emissions of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and other gases from CAFO’s be curbed. The groups claim such emissions endanger human health and welfare.”
Anderson asked Gary Baise, an attorney who specializes in agriculture and the environment, what he thought about the potential success of the petition. ‘“My guess is that the agency will look to see if there is a possible way of regulating emissions,” Baise says, “but I think the agency will find, as result of the national air emissions study it’s presently conducting with the pork industry, that it’s going to be virtually impossible to regulate these emissions.””
Still, Baise feels there is a fifty-fifty chance that new regulations of CAFOs could be sought be the EPA under ‘“work practices.”’ Such work practices can dictate how much time an animal should be indoors, how much time to roam outdoors, when how much to feed, etc.
Past attempts to regulate CAFOs have been met with some measure of success, but this petition is a stronger legal tactic, according to Baise, due to the fact the Clean Air Act “does not require an absolute certainty of proof of actual harm when making an endangerment finding.”
Will more success be heading the HSUS’s way? Those who operate CAFO’s may be awaiting word from the EPA with some level of trepidation.
To read the Anderson story click here.
Posted: 10/06/09
