United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement
and Compliance
Assurance (2201 A)
EPA325-F-08-001
) Enforcement Alert
pROffc0 »/
Volume 9, Number 4
Office of Civil Enforcement
August 2008
Large Animal Feeding Operations:
Reducing Their Impact on Air Quality
EPA Implements Landmark Air Compliance
Agreement and Monitoring Study
EPA is implementing a
groundbreaking air quality agreement
with animal feeding operations that
concentrate hundreds or thousands
of animals in confined areas. This
nationwide agreement will create a
reliable method to estimate air emissions
from these operations. By applying
this method to estimate emissions,
the animal feeding operations will be
able to determine if they are above
regulatory thresholds and must obtain
an emissions permit and install any
necessary controls.
A Growing Agricultural
Industry Raises
Environmental Concerns
It is estimated that there are 450,000
animal feeding operations (AFOs) in the
United States. They produce massive
quantities of manure, urine and other
wastes. Emissions from their animal
waste storage areas can potentially harm
public health.
The number of large animal feeding
operations is growing, with increasing
adverse effects. For example, in 2005
over 100 AFOs across the country,
each housing 50,000 or more hogs,
generated the same amount of waste
as a city of 150,000. Large dairies and
poultry AFOs are also major sources
of waste.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
estimates that confined animals excrete
three times more waste than the entire
American population each year.
Large scale animal feeding
operations have the potential
to emit significant quantities
of concentrated air pollution
from manure storage areas.
Clusters of AFOs in certain
areas of the country contribute to
significant air quality problems. For
example, the California Air Resources
Board estimates that dairies, many
concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley,
are the third-largest air pollution source
in the State, after car exhaust and
composting. EPA's Air Compliance
Agreement is anticipated to help
alleviate this situation by reducing
AFO emissions in areas with high
concentrations of AFOs, such as the
San Joaquin Valley.
EPA Targets Agricultural
Pollutants of Concern
Aprimary goal of EPA's Air Compliance
Agreement is to ensure that AFOs
comply with the environmental laws.
The Agreement addresses ammonia,
hydrogen sulfide, chemical gases known
as volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and small, breathable dust particles
known as paniculate matter (PM).
Exposure to airborne ammonia or
hydrogen sulfide can cause eye, nose
and throat irritation. Even low levels of
hydrogen sulfide can cause irreversible
damage to the nervous system.
VOCs contribute to ozone pollution,
which can irritate airways and aggravate
asthma and other lung diseases, leading
to serious health problems that range
from increased medication use to hospital
emissions. Repeated ozone exposure can
cause permanent lung damage.
PM, especially fine particles, can travel
deep into the lungs and can aggravate
heart and lung function, asthma attacks,
irregular heart beats and heart attacks.
Both ozone and fine particles have been
linked with premature death.
Outdoor Dairy AFO
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/newsletters/civil/enfalert/index.html
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Enforcement Alert
Background
AFOs are subject to permitting
requirements under the Clean Air
Act (CAA) if their emissions reach
specified thresholds, as well as reporting
requirements under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the
Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
Enforcing these requirements at
AFOs has been difficult because there
are no industry-wide, scientifically
sound methods for estimating AFO air
emissions and direct measurements of
these emissions are expensive. EPA's
enforcement actions under the CAA
against Buckeye Egg Farm and Premium
Standard Farms exemplify the problem.
Although the actions were ultimately
successful, the lack of an industry-wide
method for assessing emissions meant
EPA had to conduct extensive and
expensive air monitoring at each facility
to establish the violations. The cases took
many years to resolve.
EPA commissioned the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) to
analyze what methodology would
effectively assess AFO emissions. NAS
concluded that there were no industry-
wide, scientifically credible ways to
estimate emissions. The problem was
that emissions vary from facility to
facility depending on many factors, such
as the number of animals confined, the
species, type of feed, manure handling
and storage practices, barn ventilation
methods, and climate.
EPA determined that a comprehensive
approach was needed that would both
address the critical data gaps on AFO
emissions by establishing the monitoring
study recommended by NAS, and bring
the industry as a whole into compliance
with the CAA, CERCLA and EPCRA.
The Air Compliance Agreement is this
comprehensive approach. The Agreement
employs the type of monitoring study
recommended by NAS and will result
in the development of sound, nationally-
applicable measurement methods for
AFO emissions. The Agreement also
creates legally binding enforcement
obligations with respect to the compliance
status of participating AFOs. All AFOs
that signed the Agreement will measure
their emissions using the methodology
developed from the study and must apply
for permits if they trigger the emissions
thresholds.
Agreement: Highlights
The Agreement requires the nearly
2,600 participating AFOs to pay a civil
penalty for potential past and ongoing
violations, to fund the national air
emissions monitoring study, and to make
their facilities available for monitoring.
The AFOs also committed to take all
necessary steps to come into compliance
with the CAA and applicable reporting
requirements.
The monitoring study began in June
2007 to measure air pollutant releases
at 24 sites in nine states over a two-year
period. This data will be made available
to the public. Within 18 months of
the study's completion in 2009, EPA
will develop and publish air emission
estimating methodologies for these types
of facilities. An independent science
advisor is conducting the monitoring
study and selected the representative
facilities where emissions will be
tracked.
Participating AFOs that comply
with the Agreement will not be sued by
the United States for past or ongoing
violations under the CAA, CERCLA or
EPCRA.
Indoor Dairy AFO
The participating facilities must use
the results of the monitoring study to
determine their level of emissions, apply
for one or more permits if their emissions
are above regulatory levels, and install
any pollution controls required by law.
The facilities must also agree not to
contest the study's results. Failure to
fulfill any of these commitments revokes
EPA's commitment not to sue the facility
for environmental violations covered
under the Agreement.
Air Agreement Essentials
Goals:
•Ensure compliance with
CAA, CERCLA, and EPCRA
requirements.
•Reduce air pollution.
•Create a national methodology for
estimating AFO air emissions
Participation:
•Nearly 2,600 participants
representing nearly 14,000 facilities
in 42 states.
•Facilities in the pork, dairy, egg-
laying and broiler chicken sectors
nationwide, complete in 2009.
Penalties:
•Requires payment of over $2.8
million dollars in total civil
penalties
Disclaimer: This document attempts
to clarify in plain language some
EPA provisions. Nothing in this
Enforcement Alert revises or replaces
any regulatory provision in the cited
part, or any other part of the Code
of Federal Regulations, the Federal
Register, or the Clean Air Act, the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and
Liability Act or the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-To-
KnowAct. For more information go
to: www.epa.gov/compliance
August 2008
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Enforcement Alert
National Air Emissions Monitoring Study Highlights
• Developed by EPA and representatives from the AFO industry,
states and local regulatory agencies, and environmental groups.
• Funded by industry at a cost of approximately $ 14.8 million.
• Conducted by an independent third party.
• Covers all major types of swine, dairy and poultry facilities.
• Monitoring to occur at 24 sites in nine states nationwide.
• Will continue for two years to account for weather
and other conditions.
• Began in Spring 2007; to be complete in 2009.
• Air emissions will be measured for four pollutants:
• Ammonia
• Hydrogen sulfide
• Paniculate matter
• Volatile organic compounds
Indoor Swine AFO
Barn exhaust fans generate visible air emission from an egg-laying facility
August 2008
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Enforcement Alert
Frequently Asked Question
How does EPA's Air Compliance Agreement impact state and local
governments' ability to enforce against AFOs?
States and local governments can rely on statutory or common law authority outside
of the CAA, CERCLA and EPCRA to enforce against AFOs, such as local odor.
nuisance and zoning laws. If participants fail to comply with local or state orders.
their agreements with EPA become void. Citizens can seek enforcement under local
laws.
Additional Information
For more information on the Air Compliance Agreement, contact Sanda
Howland at (202) 564-5022, e-mail: howland.sanda@epa.gov, or Timothy
Sullivan (202) 564-2723, e-mail: sullivan.tim@epa.gov, EPA Special Litigation
and Projects Division, Office of Civil Enforcement, Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance.
• For more information on the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study
(NAEMS), contact Bill Schrock (919) 541-5032, e-mail: schrock.bill@epa.gov,
EPA Office of Air Quality, Planning and Standards Division, Office of Air and
Radiation. EPA will periodically update a publically-available website with air
monitoring study status reports and additional information.
General Information on AFOs
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/anafoidx.html
Further Information on the Air Compliance Agreement and
National Air Emissions Monitoring Study
Introductory page to the Air Compliance Agreement and related links:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/agreements/caa/cafo-agr.html
Summary of the air monitoring study and related links:
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/airmonitoringstudy.html
Home page for the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study:
https://engineering.purdue.edu/~odor/NAEMS
dEPA
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Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Civil Enforcement
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Enforcement Alert
Enforcement Alerts are published
periodically by EPA's Office of
Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance, Office of Civil
Enforcement, to inform the public
and the regulated community about
environmental enforcement issues,
trends and significant enforcement
actions.
This information should help the
regulated community avoid violations
of federal environmental law. Please
reproduce and share this publication.
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Director, Office of Civil Enforcement:
Walker B. Smith
Editor, Office of Civil Enforcement:
Melissa Page Marshall
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Document Number: EPA 325-F-08-001
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www.epa.gov/compliance
August 2008
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