Air Emissions Monitoring Study

June 14, 2007

EPA is overseeing the first-ever nationwide study of air emissions from poultry, dairy and swine animal feeding operations (AFOs), as part of a voluntary agreement with the AFO industry.

The two-year monitoring study will help provide scientific data EPA needs to develop better tools to help determine whether AFOs throughout the country are complying with the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws. The data also will help EPA as it determines how best to address AFO emissions.

The industry-funded monitoring study is being conducted through the Animal Feeding Operations Consent Agreement and Final Order, which EPA announced Jan. 21, 2005.

Researchers from eight universities across the country are conducting the monitoring, which will track levels of four pollutants most likely to be emitted from animal housing and manure storage facilities at animal production farms: particulate matter (PM); hydrogen sulfide; volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonia. EPA is providing quality assurance oversight for the study. The agency will make the emissions data public, once the data have been quality-assured.

Monitoring will begin in Spring 2007 on 24 sites in nine states; monitoring at a 25th site has been completed under a related agreement. The farms monitored are in California, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

EPA will use the data as it develops a method for estimating air emission from AFOs. This method will allow AFOs to estimate their own emissions and is designed to improve compliance with applicable environmental regulations.

In recent years, the increased size and consolidation of agricultural operations - including poultry, swine and dairy operations - have been the focus of an increasing number of citizen complaints and concern about possible health impacts. But data on AFO air emissions are scarce.

A 2002 report by the National Academy of Sciences called on EPA to improve its method for estimating emissions from AFOs – a key step in mitigating any air pollution from those operations.

AFO air emissions currently may be subject to requirements of the Clean Air Act and notification provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Though EPA previously has brought Clean Air Act enforcement actions against AFOs, more data are necessary to determine whether operations are in violation, the nature and extent of any violations and the best practices to control industry-wide emissions.

EPA negotiators worked with industry representatives, EPA regions, state and local governments, environmental groups and other stakeholders to develop the voluntary agreement. More than 2,600 AFOs, representing nearly 14,000 farms, received EPA approval to participate.

Participating AFOs paid a civil penalty of between $200 and $100,000, based on the size and number of farms in their operation, and contributed to a fund that will cover the cost of the two-year emissions monitoring program.

As part the agreement, EPA will not sue farms for past and ongoing violations during the course of the monitoring study, provided that they comply with specific conditions, including coming into compliance with all applicable air emissions laws at the end of the study. However, the agreement does not limit EPA’s ability to take action in the event of imminent and substantial danger to public health or the environment. The agreement also preserves state and local authorities’ authority to enforce local odor or nuisance laws.