USDA has published a draft programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) for the Local Meat Capacity Grants program to analyze the potential environmental impacts associated with the establishment of the program.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has preliminarily determined there is not a significant impact on the human environment and, as a result, has begun preparing an environmental impact statement. USDA said, “AMS intends for this PEA to establish a framework that will make any future assessments more efficient by placing project-specific actions that may need more analysis into priority tiers.”
In April, AMS announced it was accepting applications for the Local Meat Capacity Grants program for funding up to $75 million to support independently owned meat and poultry processing businesses to provide additional and more efficient processing options for local livestock producers.
