The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and United Egg Producers commend the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its proposed changes to the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know (EPCRA) Act. The rule would clarify that farms would not be required to report air releases from animal manure.

The poultry and egg industry groups remarked, “The removal of this unnecessary burden will ensure that emergency first responder’s important effort and time is not wasted on responding to non-emergencies.  We look forward to working with local emergency planning commissions and emergency first responders to help them be familiar with how our poultry and egg facilities operate, so if there is a true emergency, their safety and efforts are enhanced.”

Congress made it clear in passing the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method Act (the FARM Act) earlier this year, which the poultry and egg industry strongly supported, that it did not intend to cover low-level air releases from the natural degradation of manure as an emergency notification under federal emergency response laws.

The FARM Act, passed on March 23, 2018, exempted farms from the requirement to submit emergency release reports to the Coast Guard’s National Response Center for air releases from manure under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The rule proposed by EPA today is the result of the Agency considering the intent of Congress to produce a common-sense approach to handling this issue under the nation’s emergency planning framework. Moreover, in light of ongoing efforts to improve and enhance communication between farmers and local emergency responders at the state and local level, this requirement is not needed.

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About U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) is the all-feather organization representing the complete spectrum of today’s poultry industry, whose mission is to progressively serve member companies through research, education, communication and technical assistance. Founded in 1947, USPOULTRY is based in Tucker, Ga.

About the National Chicken Council
The National Chicken Council (NCC) represents integrated chicken producer-processors, the companies that produce and process chickens. Member companies of NCC account for more than 95 percent of the chicken sold in the United States.

About the National Turkey Federation
The National Turkey Federation (NTF) is the national advocate raising awareness for its members’ products, while strengthening their ability to profitably and safely deliver wholesome, high-quality, and nutritious food to consumers worldwide. NTF represents growers, processors, hatchers, breeders, distributors, allied services and state associations. NTF is found at EatTurkey.org, ServeTurkey.org; on Twitter @TurkeyGal and @ServeTurkey; and on Facebook as Turkey.The Perfect Protein®

About the United Egg Producers
The United Egg Producers (UEP) is a farmer cooperative representing egg farmer members from across the United States. The member companies produce approximately 90 percent of the nation’s total egg production. UEP’s primary role is to develop programs for the members that address animal welfare, food safety, and the environment and to represent their interest in government affairs.