by Todd Neeley, DTN Staff Reporter
OMAHA (DTN) — Despite outcry from ag interest groups following the release of farmers' personal information to environmental groups and others early in 2013, EPA said Monday the agency won't try to keep permit details confidential under a proposal to require more data be sent to it electronically.
The new rule, however, will provide privacy protection to some CAFOs and animal feeding operations.
EPA changed course on the information it would publicly share about unpermitted CAFOs and other animal feeding operations that are inspected and found in compliance with Clean Water Act. The new rule proposes masking personal and other identifying information on those facilities. The agency would post only information submitted by states on the total number of inspections of those facilities by state.
When contacted by DTN the agency did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
During a teleconference with ag reporters Tuesday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said it appears EPA “turned a blind eye” to the interests of agriculture and rural America.
“This rule is troubling because it would allow disclosure of personal information for anyone who has to file a permit,” he said. “That can include a farmer's home or mailing address or phone numbers, GPS coordinates of any particular farm.”
Grassley said the proposed rule would allow EPA to disclose personal information to people who request the data. He cited a battle between EPA and agricultural groups last year after the agency disclosed the permit records for thousands of livestock producers to environmental groups. The record disclosure led EPA to eventually ask environmental groups to return the data. It also sparked a lawsuit by the American Farm Bureau Federation and other agricultural groups seeking to block the release of such data. That case is pending.
Grassley introduced a bill last year trying to effectively block EPA from releasing personal information on farmers or livestock producers, but would still allow EPA to aggregate data. The bill has not advanced in Congress.
Another concern about the electronic reporting rule is that it could increase the number of farmers who would have to comply with discharge permit requirements, particularly if EPA is able to complete its work on another controversial rule — the waters of the United States proposal.
“Small animal feeding operations can be required to get permits if they are located around waters of the United States,” Grassley said. “Therefore it's possible many small farmers could be required to comply with this rule in the future. Clearly, there are reasons to be concerned with what the EPA is doing even if you are small farmer.”
EPA said the rule would not require CAFOs to submit nutrient management plans, “nor would the proposed rule require NPDES-permitted CAFOs to submit any new information beyond what is already required in the current regulations.”
During the previous public comment period a number of agriculture interests said the information release puts farms at risk of terrorist attacks.
In response to comments Monday, “EPA notes that all of the information proposed to be submitted electronically is already publicly available today. The proposed rule is focused on modernizing existing reporting requirements by moving from paper to electronic submissions. The proposed rule does not change the data and information that NPDES-regulated entities are required to report or how EPA manages these data and makes it available to the public…”
Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted HERE.
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