Greetings Swine Producers,
Southeast Iowa Snout & Tails – an e-communication to forward timely topics and provide awareness of upcoming events for the swine industry. Please reply to if you have suggested topics, wish to be added or removed from mailing list.
January 19, 2009
You are encouraged to continue reading the following if :
1) your operation is over 1,00 Animal Units (2,500 head of finishing or sows) and
2) the operation is not currently participating in the EPA Air Consent Agreement
or
You have swine clients which meet reporting threshold. Please contact them and help ensure they have awareness of the new ruling.
EPA Ruling Update
"The January 20, 2009 deadline to call the State DNR and the local ERC mentioned in the CERCLA/EPCRA procedures document is inaccurate. The exemption for small CAFO's takes effect on that date. EPA wants all producers to be accurate in their calculations and encourages due diligence before they initiate the calls to the state and local emergency responders." Per email from John B. Askew
Regional Administrator, Region 7 EPA
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Some of you are following the EPA air emissions reporting. ISU has established a site with the information at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/airquality . The left column contains information about CERCLA/EPCRA with links to pertinent information.
I contacted Gene Tinker about who at DNR is the point person and his response is below. I think the key thing is to follow the recommendations in the EPA announcement that we sent out and is attached. Below are the steps from that announcement for producers with over 1000 animal units to follow.
Q: If I’m not exempt from this reporting requirement, what is the process to report the air releases?
A: There is a three-step process to report continuous releases.
Step 1: You must call state and local agencies: the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) and the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The contact numbers for the SERCs are as follows: Iowa (515) 281-8694; Kansas (785) 296-1679; Missouri (573) 634-2436; and Nebraska (402) 471-2186. www.epa.gov/oem/content/epcra/serc_contacts.htm
The LEPC is usually associated with your county emergency management agency, whose telephone number should be in your local telephone directory, or accessible via the internet.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oswer/lepcdb.nsf/HomePage?openForm
Step 2: Within 30 days of the call that you made in Step 1, the person in charge of the farm operation must complete and submit a continuous release form to the SERC and LEPC. The form can be downloaded at http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/docs/chem/cont_rel/Continuous%20Release%20Form.pdf.
Guidance for completing the form is found at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/release/faciliti.htm.
Step 3: On the first anniversary date of the initial written notification, you need to reassess and confirm the accuracy of your calculations to the SERC and the LEPC in writing.
Under the continuous release reporting regulation, no further reporting is required for the routine air releases covered under your specific report unless the rate, quantity, or ownership changes. If such a change occurs, you will need to repeat the three-step reporting process outlined above, or make separate daily reports for those days. Also, if you signed up for the Air Compliance Agreement study, or if you have already filed a continuous release report, no action is required at this time. You may be required to file a new report, or update your previous report, when the air study agreement is completed.
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Background –
On December 18, 2008, the US EPA published a final rule that clarified which livestock facilities must report air emissions from their facilities. The two laws of interest in this are the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).
Animal agriculture was granted an administrative exemption from reporting air emissions that normally occur from raising farm animals under CERCLA. Additionally, farms that are not large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) according to NPDES permitting rules, are exempt from reporting under EPCRA. Previous drafts of the rule had essentially created a complete exemption for reporting air emissions from animal agriculture, so this rule came as a complete surprise to many producers, industry representatives, and those who advise producers.
Attached are two files that help explain the rule and provide guidance for complying. The procedures document provides additional background on the rule and explains the procedures for complying with the rule. The second attachment provides a sample cover letter, a Continuous Release Report Form and an Ammonia and Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions Estimator worksheet. . Both pdf files were downloaded from the ISU Air Quaility website: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/airquality/cerclaepcra.html
At this point, our knowledge and understanding of the rule and procedures are limited to the attached documents. Iowa State University Extension, IPPA and the National Pork Producers Council are working to obtain clarification from EPA as quickly as possible.
Please carefully review the background document and the other attachment to help determine your immediate course of action. You may want to discuss this issue with your legal counsel. If you previously participated in the air emissions consent agreement, you are not required to report at this time.
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Additional links for your knowledge:
* EPA – Final Ruling: CERCLA/EPCRA Administrative Reporting Exemption for Air Releases
of Hazardous Substances From Animal Waste at Farms
http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/epcra/index.htm
* ISU Air Quality – Website info: CERCLA/EPCRA Reporting
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/airquality/cerclaepcra.html
* IPPA – Web Posting: “Large CAFOS urged to begin reporting air emission estimates”, 1/19/09
http://www.iowapork.org/Newsroom/NewsForProducers/CERCLAEPCRA/tabid/1290/Default.aspx
* The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center Air Quality – general
http://www.extension.org/pages/Large_Animal_Feeding_Operations_May_Need_to_Meet_Air_Emissions_Reporting_Requirements
* Link to find local Emergency Management contact: http://www.sos.state.ia.us/publications/countydirectory/index.html
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Storlie View – This is an effort to forward current known information. As additional information and clarification is available, I will forward in an additional E-lert or Snounts & Tails. Given the ruling is EPA (federal), the structure of fines will probably be based on larger industries. Please contact me if I can be of assistance.
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