EPA Rejects Panel's Push To Make Agriculture Enforcement A 'Last Resort'

摘要

A top EPA official is rejecting a preliminary suggestion from the agency's agriculture advisers to label enforcement actions against farms "a last resort," saying it would limit officials' ability to conduct routine oversight of the facilities even in cases where the agency is not planning penalties or legal action. While EPA's Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC) has now dropped the proposed language after opposition from Lawrence Ellworth, agricultural counselor to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, one panelist says the language is an "expression of some frustration people are feeling" over agency efforts to regulate the agriculture sector, including new air, water, waste and pesticides policies.