Poultry Science: Extension & Outreach
EPA's Air Compliance Agreement: Considerations for Poultry Producers
Drs. Dan L. Cunningham , Casey W. Ritz, and Brian D Fairchild
Department of Poultry Science,
The University of Georgia
On Monday, January 31, 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposed consent agreement that, according to EPA, will facilitate the collection of air emissions data from animal feeding operations (AFOs) while providing legal protection to participating farms from EPA enforcement action under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). The primary goals of the agreement are: 1) Reduce air pollution, 2) Ensure compliance with the CAA and CERCLA acts, 3) Monitor and evaluate AFO emmisions, and 4) Promote methodologies for estimating emissions from AFOs.
- Key Provisions of the Agreement
- Conditions and Limits of the Agreement
- Nationwide Monitoring Program
- Additional Information
Key Provisions of the Agreement
1. Participation is voluntary- no one is required to sign an agreement and signing an agreement is not an admission of past air emissions violations by your farm.
2. Participating AFOs will be required to pay a civil penalty ranging from $200 to $100,000 depending on the size and number of AFOs under their control.
3. Participating AFOs will be required to pay up to $2,500 into a fund for a nationwide monitoring program in addition to the civil penalty.
4. If chosen, participating AFOs must make their facilities available for monitoring.
5. At some point, participating AFOs will also be required to install best available control technology too meet the lowest achievable emission rate.
6. Participants must apply for and meet all permit requirements.
7. The agreement includes provisions that will allow both integrators and contract growers to participate. Integrators may pay the penalty and emission study fee for contract growers if they chose to be responsible for the grower.
Conditions and Limits of the Agreement
1. By signing the agreement, AFOs are protected from federal and state liability for past air emissions violations as well as emissions during the monitoring study.
2. Signing the agreement does not, however, protect AFOs from nuisance or odor lawsuits under state or federal law.
3. The covenant not to sue covers only violations related to emissions from livestock production and waste storage facilities. It does not cover emissions from generators or other combustion engines.
4. The covenant not to sue will terminate after a short period following the monitoring program.
5. Participation in the agreement will not provide protection from criminal violations of environmental law.
6. If the total number of participants in the agreement is insufficient, EPA will not sign the Air Compliance Agreements and will proceed with the monitoring study.
7. The covenant not to sue will be nullified if AFOs fail to comply with nuisance final orders relating to air emissions.
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Nationwide Monitoring Program
1. Air emissions data will be collected during a two year national monitoring study to provide a method for estimating air emissions from animal feeding operations. Based on EPA criteria, an independent organization will select for monitoring approximately 28 farms that represent major animal groups (i.e. poultry, swine and dairy), different types of operations and different geographic regions. For poultry, two boiler and layer and one turkey farm will be monitored.
2. Participants in the agreement may be asked to make their farms available for this monitoring study. However, based on the small sample size, the chance you will be asked to make your farm available for the study is minute.
3. EPA plans to apply the results of the air emission study to all eligible AFOs, whether or not they participate in the Air Compliance Agreement.
Signed agreements are due to EPA by July 1, 2005 for those who chose to participate.
For additional information, a copy of the Air Consent Agreement and the Federal Register Notice can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/agreements/afo
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