A petition filed by a trio of environmental and animal rights groups urges USDA to increase public transparency and oversight over slaughter and egg-processing facilities’ regulation and inspection.
“The USDA has to quit hiding the environmental harms caused by letting the country’s largest meatpackers expand relentlessly and increasingly use high-speed slaughter systems to kill and process animals,” said Hannah Connor, environmental health deputy director at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the petitioners.
The petition calls for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to rescind its categorical exclusion from environmental assessment and environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The petitioners, which also includes the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund, contend that FSIS’s regulation of processing facilities “leads to substantial threats to the environment.”
They allege slaughter speeds contribute to environmental impacts such as diminished air and water quality, increased noise pollution, heightened risks of diseases in animals and threats to endangered species. In addition, the groups contend increased speeds leads to public health risks and contributes to “environmental injustices” in the meatpacking industry.
The petition states that FSIS has been categorically excluded from environmental disclosure requirements since 1983 and urges USDA to eliminate the categorical exclusion.
“This action is crucial for greater transparency and public involvement in decisions that significantly affect our environment and for addressing harms to animals at slaughterhouses,” said Laura Fox of Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic, the law program representing the groups.
The petition asks for USDA to initiate the process to rescind the categorical exclusion as soon as possible and no later than 90 days after receiving the petition.
“In the meantime, FSIS must consider the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of its actions, especially its actions approving slaughter operations for FSIS inspection and regulating slaughter line speeds, and FSIS must initiate a review of any such prior and ongoing actions,” the petition concluded. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
