Judge Allows Novel Suits Seeking RCRA Regulation Of Manure To Proceed

摘要

A federal judge has allowed environmentalists' lawsuits alleging the manure management practices of five diaries in Washington state violate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to proceed, opening the door to a landmark ruling on whether regulators can oversee livestock facilities that are often exempted from environmental rules. Judge Thomas Rice of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on June 21 rejected a motion to dismiss the suits filed by the five dairies, even though Congress largely exempts manure from regulation and most of the facilities agreed to address drinking water concerns through a separate consent order with EPA. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details. (Doc ID: 2438849) While the order stops short of determining whether manure is subject to RCRA requirements, Rice agreed with environmentalists that manure from the five dairies can be considered a "solid waste" and thus subject to regulation "after it has ceased to be 'beneficial' or 'useful' when it is over-applied to the fields and when it has leaked away from lagoons."