Peter Lehner, Managing Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming Program: “Consumers are beginning to be aware of the fact that meat, and particularly beef, has a very, very high climate impact. JBS is fully aware of this, and trying to get ahead of that by telling consumers, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we’ve got it under control.’ But…

Stronger standards would prevent hundreds of millions of pounds of pollution from reaching rivers and streams, helping to protect more than 22 million people

Inadequately controlled water pollution from slaughterhouses and rendering facilities can make water unsafe for drinking, unfit for outdoor recreation, and uninhabitable for aquatic life, posing serious risks to human health and the environment, especially in vulnerable and under-resourced communities. After more than two decades, EPA finally has begun the process of strengthening water pollution control standards for these facilities, and the Agency now proposes to adopt the weakest of three regulatory options. EPA’s preferred option is inconsistent with the CWA and other federal laws.

Peter Lehner, Managing Attorney, Sustainable Food & Farming Program: “A big potential indirect impact is a bit of education of policymakers. Congress gives special exemptions to animal ag in part because they don’t know, or don’t want to believe, the real climate and pollution impact. So I hope this will get a few more policymakers…

On average, over 17,000 animals are killed each minute in slaughterhouses across the United States. Slaughterhouse byproducts such as fat, bone, and feathers are often sent to rendering facilities for conversion into tallow, animal meal, and other products. Both slaughterhouses and rendering facilities require a near-constant flow of water, and they discharge hundreds of millions of pounds of water pollution each year.

Requiring animal feeding operations to report their toxic emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide will help community members better protect their health

AFOs emit the extremely hazardous gasses ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, and these emissions pose serious threats to people living nearby, including people living in communities of color and low-income communities. EPCRA requires facilities to report emissions of extremely hazardous substances.

The Farm Bill is the most important environmental bill Congress will address this year. Usually largely ignored by all but large-scale farmers and ranchers, agrochemical companies and food manufacturers — and their lawyers — it actually profoundly affects us all.

In response to lawsuits, EPA begins process of mandating pollution reductions

EPA’s announcement responds in part to a rulemaking petition submitted in October 2022 by a nationwide coalition of over 50 citizens’ groups and community advocacy, environmental justice, and environmental advocacy organizations, in partnership with Earthjustice

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) response to petition requesting Agency adopt a rebuttable presumption that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) using wet manure management systems actually discharge pollutants under the Clean Water Act (CWA), and must apply for CWA permits. EPA denies this petition, and instead commits to pursuing strategy to evaluate means of improving the CAFO program.

About the 3-blog series on helping American agriculture become more resilient and climate-friendly:

About the 3-blog series on helping American agriculture become more resilient and climate-friendly:

About the 3-blog series on helping American agriculture become more resilient and climate-friendly:

Plaintiffs Cape Fear River Watch, et al. filed complaint against Defendants the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michael S. Regan, administrator of the EPA. Complaint alleges EPA failed to at least annually revise, if appropriate, the effluent limitations guidelines for the Meat and Poultry Products (MPP) industrial point source category, and failed to publish regulations establishing pretreatment standards for introduction of pollutants from MPP facilities into publicly owned treatment works.

As a result of our litigation, the EPA agreed to finalize new water pollution control regulations for slaughterhouses and animal rendering facilities by August 2025.

The expansion of CAFOs, commonly known as factory farms, has caused a range of human rights abuses in the United States and across the American continents

EPA agrees to strengthen standards for the nation’s largest industrial source of phosphorus pollution — and second-largest industrial source of nitrogen pollution — by 2025