Groups sue EPA over decision to withdraw factory farm rule
August 28, 2013 | 05:33 PM
A coalition of community, animal welfare and environmental organizations has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, challenging the agency’s withdrawal of a proposed rule that allowed EPA to collect information such as locations and animal population sizes from production facilities the groups call factory farms.
The Center for Food Safety, Environmental Integrity Project, Food & Water Watch, The Humane Society of the United States, and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed the suit in the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the agency’s withdrawal of the proposed rule lacks the rational basis required by law.
Under the proposed Clean Water Act rule, EPA was going to gather the information from individual operations as part of its regulation of confined animal feeding operations known as CAFOS. The agriculture industry mounted a vigorous opposition, and on July 20 the agency announced that it would gather the information from state and federal data.
The opposition to the rule was intensified by environmental organizations filing a Freedom of Information Act request with EPA in 2012 for all of the state-generated data gathered by the agency and EPA’s decision to supply it.
Reacting to industry criticism that proprietary information had been released, EPA asked the groups that received the information to return it. In a news release today, however, Food & Water Watch noted that it has retained and reviewed all of the original records.
Wenonah Hauter, executive director at Food & Water Watch, said that the poor quality of the information showed that EPA needed to gather the data itself.
“The data from the states is inconsistent, incomplete and, ultimately, will not allow the agency to finally begin the process of properly regulating these highly polluting facilities,” Hunter said.
EPA did not respond today to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
The Center for Food Safety, Environmental Integrity Project, Food & Water Watch, The Humane Society of the United States, and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed the suit in the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the agency’s withdrawal of the proposed rule lacks the rational basis required by law.
Under the proposed Clean Water Act rule, EPA was going to gather the information from individual operations as part of its regulation of confined animal feeding operations known as CAFOS. The agriculture industry mounted a vigorous opposition, and on July 20 the agency announced that it would gather the information from state and federal data.
The opposition to the rule was intensified by environmental organizations filing a Freedom of Information Act request with EPA in 2012 for all of the state-generated data gathered by the agency and EPA’s decision to supply it.
Reacting to industry criticism that proprietary information had been released, EPA asked the groups that received the information to return it. In a news release today, however, Food & Water Watch noted that it has retained and reviewed all of the original records.
Wenonah Hauter, executive director at Food & Water Watch, said that the poor quality of the information showed that EPA needed to gather the data itself.
“The data from the states is inconsistent, incomplete and, ultimately, will not allow the agency to finally begin the process of properly regulating these highly polluting facilities,” Hunter said.
EPA did not respond today to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
