US HOUSE CONSIDERING BILL TO EXEMPT MANURE FROM CERCLA

    Last November, Rep. Ralph M. Hall (R-Tex.) introduced HR 4341 (go to the House home page and click on "Find a Bill or Law" on the right-hand side of the page) which provides

`(a) In General- Upon the date of enactment of this section, manure shall not be included in the meaning of `hazardous substance' under section 101(14) of this Act or `pollutant or contaminant' under section 101(33) of this Act.

    The Legislation has 157 co-sponsors in the House and is presently in the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials.  The bill appears designed to help the agricultural industry, in which obviously releases/disposals of manure are an everyday occurrence.

     The "environmentalist" lobby is not pleased. The Union of Concerned Scientists this month commented:

...Congress may exempt factory farms from pollution laws
Large agribusiness companies are pushing their friends in Congress to exempt factory farms from the pollution reporting and cleanup provisions in key pollution laws. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) provide an essential safety net for protecting water supplies from livestock pollution and for providing warnings of toxic air emissions from factory farms. Over 140 representatives are supporting a bill, H.R. 4341, that would give this sweetheart deal to factory farms. The bill may soon be attached to a "must-pass" spending bill in an effort to speed this ill-conceived measure through Congress. Please call your representative and urge him or her to oppose this dangerous legislation.

     The text of the legislation (see link above), however, does not distinguish between "factory" farms (whatever that means) and, presumably, "non-factory" farms.  Also, while undoubtedly large agribusiness would benefit from (and is pushing) this legislation, as far as I can tell smaller farms would benefit, too.

     In any event, is there anything intrinsically wrong with larger farms benefiting?  Last time I checked, the Equal Protection Clause existed for their benefit, too. 

Comments

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