Clinton EPA, USDA Insist Ag
Sector Won’t Suffer Unduly

WASHINGTON — Trust us, say two top Clinton administration officials, preventing animal waste from polluting America's waterways will not come at an overly burdensome cost to the nation's livestock industry.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and Carol Browner, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, promised last week that their agencies will cooperate in implementing new Clean Water Act rules for big hog, cattle and poultry operations.

"We want to work with farmers," Browner said at a hearing on the issue organized by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. "It is an important part of our economic base. We want to preserve that."

Glickman acknowledged that producers frequently see the EPA as "the enemy," looking to impose costly regulations, while environmental activists often view the Agriculture Department as too cozy with farmers.

"We must work together to figure out how we preserve our health, our environment, and a sustainable, economically viable livestock industry," Glickman said.

An EPA draft proposal released in March would extend federal water regulation to thousands of livestock operations that are not now covered. The move comes in response to the explosive growth of large-scale, confined-feeding farms that produce far more manure than can be safely used to fertilize nearby crops.

"As times and conditions change, we just can't do what we used to do," Harkin said.

The proposal would affect operations with more than 1000 cattle, 2500 hogs or 100,000 chickens. About 70 percent of hog operations now have more than 1000 animals; about 2000 cattle feedlots produce two-thirds of the nation's beef.

Although the largest livestock operations are already regulated, Browner estimated there are 10,000 more that should have permits. She added that of 22 states that have closely examined the causes of poor water quality, animal waste was responsible for 20 percent of the problem on more than 35,000 river miles.

Under the new agreement, Browner and Glickman said their agencies will revise that March proposal, talking with farmers to devise a workable plan while attempting to reach environmental goals of cleaning up more waterways. A new joint draft is expected in July, with a final set of regulations proposed for November.

Aside from the environmental concerns, updating national waste regulations will ensure that large livestock operations do not seek out states with lax rules.

"National standards will help level environmental compliance costs from state to state, creating a level playing field for producers across the country," said Harkin, whose state is the leading hog producer.

Farm groups have reacted cautiously to the EPA's proposal, but most concede that the trend toward ever larger livestock operations makes tougher regulations all but inevitable.

Some environmental groups, however, say government should halt all new large livestock farms until the new rules are in place. Some states are already considering such moratoriums on their own.