“The AFO’s agreements bring us closer to ensuring clean air compliance across our nation,” said Granta Y. Nakayama, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This innovative approach will provide the best available science to guide EPA’s decision making in a way that is good for the environment, good for agriculture and good for the American people.”

On Jan. 31, 2005, the EPA placed a notice in the Federal Register that offered individual AFOs an opportunity to voluntarily sign a consent agreement. The agreement would commit them to conduct a nationwide monitoring plan to better understand and define air emissions from such operations.

The Environmental Appeals Board approved two final agreements to cover the study of 2,568 operations, representing 6,267 farms (a single AFO can include more than one farm). The study included 204 egg-laying and 40 broiler chicken, 1,856 swine, and 468 dairy operations.

Source: Pollution Engineering