April 2017
This week, the D.C. District Court of Appeals issued a decision saying the EPA inappropriately exempted concentrated animal feed operations – often referred to as factory farms – from reporting air pollution emissions. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide air emissions are likely pollutants emitted by factory farms. During the Obama Administration, the EPA issued a final rule regarding which industries needed to adhere to public reporting of air pollution emissions. That final rule explicitly exempted concentrated animal feeding operations from any public reporting.
Several environmental groups sued, claiming exempting factory farm reporting was in violation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The ATS joined an amicus brief case urging the court to require public reporting of factory farm air pollution emissions.
