What are Others Saying about Air Emissions Reporting?

As I've written before, a federal court has stayed a mandate requiring livestock producers to report air emissions from manure until January 22, 2018. We are awaiting further guidance from EPA. In the meantime, here is what others are saying about the delay and what steps producers should be taking: 

In November, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPEA) filed a brief in support of the EPA's motion to delay the mandate until January 2018. (That motion was granted.) According to the NPPC, between 60,000 and 100,000 livestock and poultry farmers will need to file air emissions reports with the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center (NRC). The NPPC and USPEA asked the court to give the EPA more time to “provide farmers more specific and final guidance before they must estimate and report emissions” and to develop a system that will enable farmers to comply with their legal obligations.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) reminds dairy farms in compliance with their National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS) consent agreement that they will not have to file any reports until such time as EPA completes its work under NAEMS, which could be a while. Before the most recent extension, NMPF urged dairy producers not to report emissions until the regulatory details were ironed out. 

Similarly, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association indicated it would use the extra time to work on the introduction of stand-alone legislation to fix this issue and to promote corrective language in the appropriations process. 

January 22, 2018 is coming up and we are still waiting on additional guidance or streamlined forms from the EPA. Stay tuned!