This week the National Pork Producers Council’s (NPPC) Environmental Committee and Air Quality Task Force attended a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workshop in Raleigh, NC, to discuss review of the National Air Emissions Study.
The 2-1/2-year-long study conducted by Purdue University was carried out under EPA’s direction, funded by livestock and poultry producers at a cost of $14.6 million.
The study sought to establish scientifically valid methods to estimate air emissions from livestock and poultry operations as part of the 2005 “air consent agreements” EPA entered into with thousands of livestock and poultry producers.
By participating in the agreements, producers were ensured they would not be subject to enforcement actions related to emissions while the study was underway and the subsequent standards developed.
NPPC was integrally involved in the development of the consent agreements and in setting up the air emissions study, which collected data from 14 pork, dairy, layer and poultry farms in nine states.
NPPC told EPA that pork producers would meet air quality responsibilities as long as regulatory standards were science-based, affordable and effective.