Agricultural News
NCBA's Scott Yager Touts Livestock Producers' Regulatory Relief from Superfund Law Under FARM Act
Thu, 20 Jun 2019 11:08:04 CDT
A little over a year ago, President Donald Trump signed into law the Consolidate Appropriations Act of 2018 that included a title called The Fair Agriculture Reporting Act or FARM Act. This effectively exempted the reporting of air emissions from animal waste at a farm as previously required under Sec. 103 of what is called CERCLA. Then last fall, then Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Andrew Wheeler, proposed the reporting exemption under EPCRA. That proposed rule was eventually finalized earlier this month. Scott Yager, chief environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says the exemptions from these laws - more commonly known to the public as the Superfund Laws - mean livestock producers will no longer be required to potentially call the Coast Guard to report on the odor of manure.
"We're talking Superfund. This was a law that was designed by Congress to help clean up and rehabilitate toxic waste dump sites," Yager said explaining how environmental groups were originally successful in tacking on an expansion of its reporting requirements for livestock producers which under a court ruling would impacted approximately 200,000 producers. "The good news is that here at NCBA and in working with our friends in the barnyard of DC, we were able to get Congress to change the law to exempt farms from having to report under CERCLA - that was called the FARM Act."
Once Congress passed the FARM Act, Yager says the EPA was given good reason to revise the EPCRA - which is essentially the same as CERCLA only it involves reporting on the state and local levels.
"So, we were basically able to get a buy one, get one free- This is a whole lot of alphabet soup, but it means less regulatory burden on producers," Yager said. "You can spend more time managing your operation instead of filling out paperwork."
Listen to Scott Yager talk more about the regulatory relief that has been secured for livestock producers through the advocacy efforts of the NCBA with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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