See the article and two sidebars -- EPA wants manure-spread permits optional 
and Hog confinement emissions -- here:

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060623/BUSINESS01/606230364/1030

Published June 23, 2006

Farms may be exempt from pollution reporting rules
A federal bill would protect livestock farms from Superfund law

By PHILIP BRASHER
REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

Washington, D.C. — Des Moines Water Works and state environmental regulators 
are opposing an attempt in Congress to protect livestock farms from lawsuits 
and exempt them pollution-reporting rules.

A House bill that has 170 co-sponsors, including all of Iowa's delegation, 
would exempt manure from being considered a hazardous substance under the 
federal Superfund law.

The legislation would prevent farms from being held liable for manure spills 
and from having to report emissions, supporters say.

A similar bill is expected to be introduced soon in the Senate.

The bills "would make it harder for the state to be able to clean up sites 
or to enforce clean-water regulations from livestock feeding operations," 
said L.D. McMullen, general manager and chief executive of Des Moines Water 
Works, the utility that supplies water to the Des Moines area.

Manure spills are reported in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers every year. 
When a spill occurs, Des Moines Water Works switches its intake to the 
unaffected river while the polluted river clears, McMullen said.

Jeff Vonk, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, recently 
wrote the state's senators in opposition to the legislation. Agency 
officials say they are primarily concerned about more than 800 older earthen 
manure basins that remain in the state.

Exempting farms from the Superfund law "removes an important tool to the 
state in its long-term efforts to manage runoff or infiltration from these 
sites, particularly regarding potential cleanup," Vonk wrote.

The Superfund law was originally intended to force polluters to pay for 
cleaning industrial waste sites, but some state and city officials have 
recently starting using it against livestock farms that allegedly polluted 
rivers.

The city of Waco, Texas, sued a group of dairy producers in 2004, and the 
state of Oklahoma last year sued a series of poultry producers.

State attorneys general have been circulating a letter opposing the 
exemption legislation. The Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Pork Producers 
Association have been working to get state officials behind the legislation.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has not taken a formal position but opposes 
giving farmers blanket exemption from the liability and reporting laws, 
spokesman Bob Brammer said.

"We are concerned that a blanket exemption would prevent enforcement of 
these important federal environmental laws in all cases of manure spills and 
dumping, even though there may be some circumstances where enforcement would 
be appropriate, such as deliberate dumping," Brammer said.

Pork producers say their chief concern stems from federal court rulings that 
could force large farms to report emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, 
two chemicals produced by manure.

"There's something about us as farmers, we don't like a lot of paperwork, a 
lot of record keeping," said Max Schmidt of Elma, a member of the National 
Pork Board's environment committee.

Vonk said the reporting rules protect the public by enabling the 
Environmental Protection Agency to monitor trends in pollution. "It is the 
emissions that count, not who is emitting them that matters," he wrote.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., plans to support the exemption bill, 
spokeswoman Beth Pellett Levine said.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., is looking for a compromise, spokeswoman Maureen 
Knightly said.

"A blanket exemption will most likely cause great contention and opposition, 
and this approach has not worked for the past several years in Congress. It 
seems that clarifying the law would cause less opposition while 
accomplishing the goals of farm and livestock groups," she said.

Hundreds of hog and poultry producers nationwide signed an agreement with 
the environmental agency that will shield them from pollution-related 
lawsuits while the agency studies farm emissions.

Many hog farms in Iowa likely joined the agreement, although the number has 
not been released.

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