Relief from EPA Dust Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency in a Nov. 2 letter to NCBA agreed with NCBA’s 2003 legal analysis that cattle operations should not have to apply for a major source permit under the Clean Air Act.

Under the Clean Air Act, operations are required to apply for a major source permit if they have “non-fugitive” emissions (can be trapped in a stack in a barn situation) of 100 tons per year. Operations that have “fugitive” emissions (cannot be captured in a stack, but are released into the environment) are not required to apply for a permit, unless non-fugitive emissions of the operation meet the 100 ton per year threshold. NCBA maintained that because cattle operations are fugitive emission sources, and non-fugitive sources do not exceed the threshold for major sources, cattle operations should not be required to apply for a permit.

EPA concurred in a Nov. 2 letter. “Based on on-site visits and the observations of its personnel, EPA general presumes that air emissions from cattle loading and unloading, cattle feed lots, retention basins, roadways, and feed loading operations are fugitive emissions that do not count when determining major source status for construction and operating permitting,” the agency wrote.