LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Farmers across Michigan and the U.S. had some relief after a recent Environmental Protection Agency decision rejected calls for stricter measures for large livestock farms. 

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After considering several petitions from environmental and community groups, the EPA has ruled against revising rules pertaining to some of the nation’s largest animal operations which deal with cattle, chickens, and hogs. 

While the ruling is final for now, the agency has conceded that more research is needed for further decisions in the future. 

“A comprehensive evaluation is essential before determining whether any regulatory revisions are necessary or appropriate,” the agency said in a statement.

The groups’ main concerns related to pollution to waterways from animal waste, and the EPA has written to the groups that a panel to develop recommendations for the future will be made with representatives from all sides of the issue. 

“We want to hear from all voices and benefit from the findings of the most current research, and EPA is confident that these efforts will result in real progress and durable solutions to protecting the nation’s waters,” Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox said. 

Still, representatives from a group that has previously petitioned the agency to deliver stricter requirements for livestock pollution are not satisfied with this resolution. 

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“Factory farms pose a significant and mounting threat to clean water, largely because EPA’s weak rules have left most of the industry entirely unregulated,” said Tarah Heinzen, legal director of Food & Water Watch. “The lack of urgency displayed in EPA’s decision doubles down on the agency’s failure to protect our water, and those who rely on it.”

The EPA outlines that animal agriculture manure is the primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface and groundwater. 

“Manure runoff from cropland and pastures or discharging animal feeding operations and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) often reaches surface and groundwater systems through surface runoff or infiltration,” EPA agency officials said in a statement, “Permitting discharging CAFOs to limit nitrogen and phosphorus discharge to surface waters, and implementing best management practices outlined in a manure management plan are critical steps to protecting water quality.”

A study from the agency measuring the estimated amount of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal manure across the country found an increase in many states.  Texas led the country in highest levels of nitrogen in 2007 and 2017 at 699,431 and 687,364 (1000 kilograms of Nitrogen) according to the EPA.  Michigan ranks closer to the middle of the pack in terms of nitrogen presence at 75,204 in 2007, increasing its levels of nitrogen to 94,398 in 2017.  

The EPA regulates large farms called CAFOs, under the Clean Water Act and under federal law requires only those known to discharge waste to obtain permits. Under the most recent count this spring, a count showed that only 6,406 of the nation’s 21,539 CAFOs have permits.