District Court Judge Backs EPA Withdrawal Of CAFO Data Reporting Rule

摘要

A federal district court judge has upheld EPA's 2012 decision to withdraw a proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) reporting rule for poultry and livestock farms, rejecting environmentalists' arguments that not finalizing the rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Data gathered under the rule could have led to increased CWA permitting requirements for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and environmentalists argued its withdrawal set a bad precedent expanding the agency's ability to scrap rules based on speculative reasoning. But EPA defended its decision, saying the rule would be duplicative of existing reporting requirements from state and other federal agencies and that smaller farms might be unaware of the rule and not comply. And Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a Sept. 29 ruling found EPA's explanation is "sufficient." Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.