Bipartisan Bill Seeks Agricultural Exemption to Emissions Reporting Requirements

Bipartisan legislation in the Senate would exempt farmers from reporting requirements for animal waste emissions.  The bill seeks an exemption for farmers and ranchers from the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act  as well as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

The bill was introduced by Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer and Indiana Democrat Joe Donnelly earlier this week.

In a statement, Fischer noted that in 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule exempting most livestock operations from the laws’ reporting requirements, but that last April, a federal appeals court ruled EPA did not have the authority to create the exemption for agriculture.  Known as the Fair Agriculture Reporting Method, or FARM Act, the legislation will maintain the exemption for certain federally registered pesticides, exempt air emissions from animal waste on a farm from reporting requirements.  It would also provide agriculture producers with greater certainty by reinstating the status quo producers have been operating under since EPA’s 2008 final rule.

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