SCHUMER TO EPA: PUT DAIRY FARMERS' FEARS TO REST, EXEMPT THEM FROM BURDENSOME AND COSTLY REGULATIONS THAT TREAT MILK AS IF IT WERE OIL - FARMERS COULD BE ON THE HOOK FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
Under The Clean Water Act, EPA Says It Can Require Dairy Farmers to Develop and Implement Costly Milk Spill Prevention Plans Because Milk Contains Animal Fat - An Oil
Previous Administration Proposed Exempting Milk Producers From Requirements, But Current Administration Has Yet to Finalize Rule on Proposed Exemption
Schumer Calls On EPA to Finalize Rule Exempting Milk Producers From Oil Spill Regulations-Will Put Dairy Farmers' Fears To Rest
On Friday, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer released a letter to Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the agency to exempt dairy farmers from provisions of the Clean Water Act that could require them to develop and implement plans to handle a milk spill - the same provision that requires oil companies to develop plans to deal with oil spills. The EPA claims the authority to require such spill prevention plans because milk contains animal fat - an oil - but Schumer said that Congress meant for these regulations to apply to toxic substances and companies like ExxonMobil and BP, and to oil, not a 75-cow dairy farm and milk. The current administration has been considering a rule exempting farmers from these requirements since January of 2009 but has not yet acted to finalize the ruling.
Should the EPA decide to apply the provision to dairy farmers, it would mean that dairy farms with 1,320 gallons of milk stored would have to develop a spill response plan. The vast majority of farms in New York State meet that threshold. Farms that store below 10,000 gallons of milk could self certify their plan, whereas farms that store over 10,000 gallons of milk would have to have their plans certified by an engineer. This process can cost thousands of dollars.
"Everyone knows that when Congress enacted these laws it was targeting massive oil spills and toxic substances, not an accident involving milk at one of our state's small dairy farms," said Schumer. "Mothers tell their children not to cry over spilled milk - farmers certainly shouldn't have to either. Two years ago the EPA floated the idea of taxing cows as gas emitters and now they are suggesting that milk could be treated as a hazardous material. We convinced them to take the idea of the table back then, and we'll convince them this time too."
The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 in order to protect the nation's waters from dangerous pollutants which can be harmful to public health. The law gave the EPA the authority to enact the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) program, first promulgated in 1974, which aims to ensure that dangerous toxins are stored safely and that any large spill is cleaned up in a responsible manner. Essentially the provisions required entities that handle toxic oils to have a plan to clean them up in the event of a spill.
The SPCC rules were revised in 2002 but left considerable ambiguity about the regulations' impact on milk, which can be considered a non petroleum-oil because of its butterfat content. In 2005, an EPA presentation made clear that the current SPCC policies could be applied to milk. Since then, milk producers have been working to ensure that EPA regulations don't apply to milk producers. The Bush administration proposed a rule to officially exempt milk producers from any SPCC regulations, but the rule was held up as part of the Obama administration's complete review of all EPA rules proposed under the previous administration. A rule exempting milk has never been finalized.
Schumer said that milk is already highly regulated for safety and quality. In order to meet existing state and federal standards, milk must be stored in tanks that are already regulated, permitted and subject to inspection. Not only is it unlikely that such a tank would leak, but it is unnecessary to burden farmers with additional regulations. Ensuring that dairy farmers are not hit with added costs due to new, unnecessary regulations will help provide producers with the security they need to produce high quality milk and make a living for their families.
Schumer added, "The EPA has moved in the right direction on this by proposing to exempt dairy farmers, but it's long past time they take the last step and finalize this rule and provide security to our milk producers."
The full copy of the letter is below:
July 21, 2010
The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Jackson:
I write out of concern that delay in implementing a proposed rule that would exempt milk storage tanks from being regulated under EPA rules intended to prevent oil spills could negatively impact New York's dairy industry.
The EPA considers milk to be a non-petroleum oil due to its butterfat content. Under EPA's Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) rules, facilities handling milk, including dairy farms, may be subject to regulation because of their oil storage capacity. In January 2009, EPA issued a proposed rule exempting milk storage tanks from SPCC requirements if certain conditions are met. If this rule is finalized, any milk storage containers that meet state and federal sanitary standards will be exempt from the SPCC.
I fully support this exemption and urge you to act quickly to issue the final rule as currently written. Milk is already highly regulated for safety and quality. In order to meet existing state and federal standards, milk must be stored in tanks that are already regulated, permitted and subject to inspection. Not only is a leak an extremely rare occurrence for these tanks, but additional regulations pose an unnecessary to burden farmers with additional regulations, particularly in this challenging economy.
The proposed rule was introduced in January of 2009 and has not been finalized in over eighteen months. I appreciate that your administration must do its due diligence and reexamine all proposed rules issued by the previous administration, but I urge you to quickly finalize this rule. In addition, it is important that EPA uphold its commitment to extend the compliance date for milk storage containers under the SPCC until the rule has been finalized. American dairy farmers need the assurance that they will not face additional regulations.
Thank you for your attention to this request. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
###