EPA puts CAFO emission measurement reg on hold

Livestock producers and dairymen got some good news for a change last week from the Environmental Protection Agency when it denied a petition by environmental groups to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations like factories under the Clean Air Act. CAFOs may one day be regulated as sources of air pollution, but that day won’t come anytime soon.The EPA decision, posted in the Federal Register, answers a petition filed in 2009 by The Humane Society of the United States and other environmental groups.The groups sought to bring concentrated animal feeding operations under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. The section requires stationary sources of air pollution to adopt the “best system” for reducing emissions. The groups said farms with a large number of animals harm human health, poison the environment and cause climate change.CAFOs, however, are open-air operations. How do you measure the emissions of an individual Holstein? Is all manure created equal?