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January 25, 2006
Dear Congressman ________:
On behalf of the National Grange, I urge you to cosponsor H.R. 4341 a bill introduced by Congressman Ralph Hall (R-TX), to amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (`Superfund') to provide that manure is not considered a hazardous substance, a pollutant or a contaminant under current legislation. This bill addresses the question of whether the provisions of the Superfund law (CERCLA) and the Community Right To Know Act (EPCRA) may be applied to animal manure, a question of extreme importance to America’s cattle, dairy, swine, and poultry producers.
The National Grange is the nation’s oldest General farm and rural public interest organization. Founded in 1867, today the Grange has more than 2800 affiliated local, county and State Grange chapters in 37 states. We believe that legitimate concerns raised regarding manure management on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) can and should be addressed pro-actively with additional legislative action, incentive driven financial assistance programs and scientifically based regulatory proposals that incorporate the direct input of agriculture producers and knowledgeable individuals from both the government and the land grant college system.
As you know, recent court cases have been filed against livestock and poultry operations arguing that manure is hazardous waste. As in other series of environmental litigations, that have attempted to stretch the intent and purpose of environmental legislation, this tactic of attempting to extend CERCLA and EPCRA jurisdiction to normal and routine agricultural management practices will, in the view of the National Grange, simply result in costly and complicated litigation, resulting in little or no environmental benefit and providing no assurances or clear guidelines to livestock producers regarding what practices are prudent and appropriate to address their legitimate manure disposal responsibilities.
When Congress passed the Superfund Law and the Community Right to Know Act, the intent was to clean up toxic waste dumps and chemical spills. In our view these laws were never intended to apply to animal manure. As a matter of fact, Congress specifically exempted “Any substance to the extent that it is used in routine agricultural operations or is fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer” from the definition of a hazardous chemical. Manure is not Superfund waste. And because manure is used as a fertilizer, it fits squarely with this exemption.
As you know the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts already regulate livestock and poultry operations and H.R. 4341 would exempt animal manure from the Superfund Law and the Community Right to Know Act.
Instead of supporting endless litigation to define the rights and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in addressing legitimate livestock waste management issues, the delegates to the 139 th Annual Convention to the National Grange, held last November, adopted the following policy recommendation on reforming concentrated animal feeding operations management:
“The National Grange supports pro-active efforts to address legitimate concerns raised regarding concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the compliance of CAFOs with Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, hazardous substance release laws and other environmental laws that directly protect the health and safety of the general public. We support direct input by the agricultural industry, scientifically based regulations, transparent research regarding actual conditions on farms,sensible control and enforcement, the development of nutrient management plans, developing cost efficient odor reduction technology, and the zoning of agricultural districts as effective means of addressing CAFO management issues. We recommend the development and use of “the best management practices” for the handling of animal and poultry wastes. We support liability protection for farmers who follow the appropriate regulations and “best management practices”. We also support strict laws that regulate large livestock enterprises so that they store, process and apply nutrients according to an approved nutrient management plan to assure that excess nutrients will not contaminate the air or waters of the United States. We also recommend strict construction standards to new earthen manure lagoons and set a phase-in period after which existing lagoons would have to meet appropriate standards. We support prohibiting indefinite storage of animal waste by requiring treatment according to federal wastewater standards if the waste is not applied to land or used in another environmentally sound matter. We further support regulations or other provisions to prevent animal owners from using contracts or similar arrangements to avoid responsibilities for animal waste management. We support imposing tough new penalties on the worst polluters. However, we believe that the implementation of any rules and regulations forcing compliance with the Clean Water Act for CAFOs should not become mandatory until all technical expertise and funding is secured and available for the timely compliance with these directives.”
The National Grange believes that clarifying the CERCLA/EPCRA laws as they relate to animal manure is a critical first step in proactively addressing the legitimate concerns regarding waste management challenges on our nations most successful commercial livestock operations. The National Grange strongly urges you to cosponsor H.R. 4341.
Sincerely,
Leroy Watson, Legislative Director
National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry |
