v>EPA
Office of Land
and
Emergency Management
April 27, 2018
www.epa.gov/epcra
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
How does the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method (FARM) Act impact
reporting of air emissions from animal waste under CERCLA Section 103 and
EPCRA Section 304?
Farms do not need to report air emissions from animal waste at farms under either CERCLA or EPCRA.
On March 23, 2018, Congress signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 ("Omnibus Bill"). Title
XI of the Omnibus Bill, called the "Fair Agricultural Reporting Method Act" or "FARM Act," expressly exempts
"air emissions from animal waste (including decomposing animal waste) at a farm" from reporting under
CERCLA section 103.
In line with the Agency's prior statements interpreting EPCRA section 304(a)(2), air emissions from animal
waste at farms do not need to be reported under EPCRA because these types of releases are now exempt
from CERCLA. Under EPCRA section 304(a)(2), releases that are not subject to reporting under CERCLA
section 103 need only be reported if the release:
(a) is not federally permitted as defined in CERCLA,
(b) exceeds the reportable quantity, and
(c) occurs in a manner which would require notification under CERCLA section 103.
The release must meet all three criteria in order to be reported under EPCRA section 304(a)(2). As an initial
matter, air emissions from animal waste at farms are generally not federally permitted and so would meet (a).
For such emissions that exceed a reportable quantity (and thus meet (b)), the question then becomes whether
the release "occurs in a manner which would require notification" under CERCLA. The FARM Act expressly
excludes certain types of releases—air emissions from animal waste—from CERCLA reporting. Air emissions
from animal waste thus do not "occur in a manner" which would require notification under CERCLA, and thus
do not meet (c); therefore, these releases fall out of the reporting requirements of EPCRA section 304.
It is important to note that the FARM Act's reporting exemption is tied to the nature or manner of these
releases rather than to a specific substance. The FARM Act does not exempt substances typically associated
with animal waste (such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) from reporting altogether; rather, it exempts from
reporting only the release of these substances from animal waste into the air. Because air emissions from
animal waste do not "occur in a manner" which would require notification under CERCLA, they do not meet the
requirement under (c). As a result, the three requirements to trigger reporting under EPCRA section 304(a)(2)
are not met and these releases do not need to be reported.
EPA's interpretation based on the recent FARM Act is in line with prior statements the Agency has made to
promote consistency between CERCLA and EPCRA release reporting. For example, in the 1987 final rule
promulgating the EPCRA regulations, EPA cited to EPCRA section 304(a)(2) to adopt the reporting of
continuous releases and exempt the application of registered pesticide products from EPCRA release
reporting, noting: "Because such releases are not reportable under [CERCLA], they are also exempt from
release reporting under [EPCRA], ... These releases, which include emissions from engine exhaust, certain
nuclear material releases, and the normal application of fertilizer, are also excluded from release notification
under [EPCRA]." See 52 Federal Register 13384-13385 (April 22, 1987). Similarly, in a 1989 technical
amendment to its EPCRA regulations, EPA excluded four categories of releases of radionuclides from EPCRA
reporting which had been excluded from CERCLA reporting, stating: "Because of today's exemptions of certain
radionuclide releases from CERCLA notification requirements . . . such exempted releases also are exempt
from the reporting requirements of section 304 of [EPCRA]." See 54 Federal Register 22543 (May 24, 1989).
EPA intends to conduct a rulemaking to address the impact of the FARM Act on the reporting of air emissions
from animal waste at farms under EPCRA.
Office of Emergency Management
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FARM Act Impacts
April 27, 2018
How does the FARM Act impact reporting of other types of releases (i.e.,
those that are not air emissions from animal waste)?
The FARM Act applies only to the reporting of air emissions from animal waste. The Act does not exempt any
other type of release at a farm from reporting. In other words, the FARM Act does not apply to releases of
substances from animal waste into non-air environmental media, nor to releases into air from sources other
than animal waste at farms. For example, a release from animal waste into water (e.g., a lagoon breach) or a
release from an anhydrous ammonia storage tank into the air would trigger reporting requirements under
CERCLA if they exceed reportable quantities.
Office of Emergency Management
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