FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  NRDC: Melanie Shepherdson, 202-289-2393 or 202-302-7306 (cell)
                         Elliott Negin, 202-289-2405
             Sierra Club: Ken Midkiff, 573-881-0553 (cell)

EPA Factory Farm Rule Puts Polluters First at Environment's Expense

WASHINGTON (December 16, 2002) - The Environmental Protection Agency
today will announce a final rule on controlling factory farm pollution that
will allow agribusinesses to continue to foul the nation's waterways
with animal waste, according to NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)
and Sierra Club.

EPA was forced to finalize the new rule by December 15, 2002, under a 1992 judicial consent decree between NRDC and EPA.

"The final rule puts polluters first," said Melanie Shepherdson, an attorney with NRDC's Clean Water Project. "The Bush EPA gave agribusiness increased protection from liability for polluting our waterways. It's a sweet deal for factory farm polluters, but it stinks for the rest of us."

Large-scale animal factories, which raise thousands of animals and
produce 220 billion gallons of manure annually, now dominate animal
production across the country. These large-scale operations routinely
over-apply liquid waste on land, which runs off into surface water, killing
fish, spreading disease, and contaminating drinking water supplies. They
also emit toxic fumes into the air.

"The Bush administration is perpetuating a system where corporate
agribusiness can reap huge profits from factory farming and avoid
responsibility for the pollution they generate," said Ken Midkiff, director
of the Sierra Club's Factory Farm Campaign. "Why should taxpayers have
to pay for the mess they make?"

Thirty years ago, Congress identified concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs) as point sources of water pollution to be regulated
under the Clean Water Act's water pollution permitting program.
However, the scale of animal production at individual operations has
dramatically increased since then. As a result, the regulations that EPA
developed in the 1970s are outdated and inadequate. The Clinton EPA
proposed a new rule featuring several initiatives that would have protected
the environment, but the Bush administration stripped them from the final
rule after agribusinesses complained.

According to NRDC and Sierra Club, the final rule will:
Legalize discharges of runoff contaminated with nitrogen, phosphorus,
bacteria and metals into already polluted rivers and streams;
Fail to update technology standards to tighten controls on water
pollution, allowing factory farms to continue discharging raw waste;
Allow factory farms to write their own permit conditions;
Shield corporations that own the livestock from liability for the
environmental damage they cause; and
Create new loopholes in the law, shielding factory farms from liability
for animal wastes running off the land into waterways.

NRDC and Sierra Club have urged EPA to adopt a rule that would keep
animal waste out of rivers and lakes, hold corporate owners responsible for
spills, and guarantee adequate public participation. The groups say EPA's new rule does not meet these basic requirements.

This rule is yet another example of how contributors to the Bush-Cheney
campaign are getting what they paid for, Shepherdson added. She pointed out
that during the 2000 election, the Bush-Cheney campaign received $2,636,625
from agribusiness, including $647,285 from the dairy, livestock, and
poultry and egg industries. President Bush received more livestock industry
contributions ($506,085) in the 2000 election campaign than any other
federal candidate received between 1990 and 2000. (Source:www.opensecrets.org.)

NRDC and Sierra Club attorneys will review the rule's details and
consider legal action.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit
organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated
to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has
more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York,
Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. More information is available
through NRDC's Web site at www.nrdc.org.

The Sierra Club's members are 700,000 of your friends and neighbors.
Inspired by nature, we work together to protect our communities and the
planet. The club is America's oldest, largest and most influential
grassroots environmental organization.

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Erin E. Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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