Livestock and dairy farmers are confused as to whether or not they have to report harmful emissions from their operations, reports the Capital Press.
The Environmental Protection Agency was originally expected to make all producers report emissions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, a federal law that regulates hazardous substances.
Farmers panicked, thinking they had to get reports in by January 20th - the day President Obama was sworn into office. Obama, however, ordered the suspension and review of pending federal regulations and those that became effective after he stepped into office.
Confusion mounted when the EPA noted that some large confined animal feeding operations will have to report emissions to their local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) and state emergency response commissions (SERCs) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
A dairy business will have to report if it meets or exceeds any of the following threshold numbers:
They must also calculate the amount of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emitted by their operations, the EPA said. Tools to help calculate are offered by several universities, like U. of Nebraska and Iowa State.
The EPA is not planning on a widespread enforcement effort, according to Nicholas Peak, the agency's regional CAFO coordination for the Northwest.
Over the summer the EPA warned the dairy industry that it would soon start regulating GHG emissions. Farmers began lobbying fiercely against the potential “cow tax” which would tax them for the methane that livestock emit.