Stricter water pollution regulations may be coming soon for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and slaughter and animal rendering facilities.
In late January, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new guidelines for pollution and discharge limits from industrial sources. The new plan focuses primarily on the discharges of nutrient and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.
As part of the plan, the agency also announced new studies to be conducted, including a study on CAFOs to make a decision on whether to undertake a rule-making to revise their effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards.
“For 50 years, EPA has implemented the Clean Water Act to protect our nation’s waters that are essential to healthy communities. This Effluent Guidelines Program Plan represents a critical next step to tackle pollutants like PFAS and nutrients at the source, before they can harm our health and the environment,” said Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox.
The agency finalized the new plan after conducting a study and determining effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards are necessary for reducing PFAS in leachate discharges from landfills. Leachate is liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste and contains soluble, suspended or miscible materials removed from that waste, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.
Slaughter facility regs
In early March, EPA announced its intent to update water pollution regulations for slaughterhouses and animal rendering facilities by the fall of 2025. Proposed standards are due by the end of 2023. EPA’s proposed consent decree follows a lawsuit filed late last year by a group of conservation organizations.
“Although EPA was in the process of conducting the (meat and poultry products) rulemaking, EPA had not publicly announced any specific timeline for completion,” the agency said in the notice of proposed consent decree. “The parties initiated settlement discussions, which ultimately produced the proposed consent decree.”
The lawsuit follows an earlier challenge filed in 2019, which challenged the Trump administration’s decision to not update water pollution control standards.
“For decades, EPA’s weak and outdated rules have given slaughterhouses a free pass to pollute America’s waterways with nitrogen, phosphorus and other oxygen-depleting substances,” said Sarah Kula, attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project.
“EPA’s plan to strengthen these rules is a win for downstream communities, and today’s agreement includes critical deadlines that hold EPA accountable to fixing this problem,” Kula said.
The agency is accepting public comments until March 31 on the proposed consent decree. After reviewing the comments, EPA, along with the groups in the lawsuit, will file the proposed consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for approval to resolve the lawsuit. To submit comments, search for docket ID FRL-10756-01-OGC at regulations.gov.
“Every year, slaughterhouses and rendering facilities discharge millions of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus, along with heavy metals and dozens of other pollutants, into rivers and streams across the United States,” the conservation groups claimed.
They continued that EPA has not revised water pollution control standards for slaughter or rendering facilities since at least 2004. “Ninety-five percent of these facilities are not subject to any federal water pollution standards at all, and a portion of the remaining 5% are governed by outdated standards published in the mid-1970s,” the groups claimed.
However, the agency noted that some facilities are already removing nutrients from their wastewater and achieving effluent concentrations below limitations set by the 2004 regulations. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
