January 2, 2003
		New EPA rule favors factory farm polluters The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule on December 15 that will allow agribusiness to continue policing itself regarding pollution and will relax environmental standards all ready in place. Large-scale factory farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), produce 220 billion gallons of animal waste annually, which emits toxic fumes into theair and pollutes waterways, killing fish, spreading serious diseases and contaminating drinking water. The Clean Water Act, drafted in the 1970s, was considered outdated given more recent stresses on waterways through the proliferation of CAFOs, and the EPA was forced to fianlize a new rule by December 15, 2002, under a judicial concent decree between the Natural Resources Defense Council and the government agency. The EPA had been urged by environmental advocacy groups to adopt a rule that would work to keep manure out of rivers and lakes, hold factory owners responsible for spills, and guarantee more public particpation. The Bush administration, however, has allowed agribusiness more leniency than before. The new rule will legalize runoff contaminated with fecal discharge; allow CAFOs to write their own permit conditions; protect corporations from liability for environmental destruction; not update technology standards designed to tighten controls on water pollution "The Bush rule puts polluters first," said Melanie Shepherdson, an attorney with NRDC's Clea Water Project. "The EPA gave agribusiness increased protection from liability for polluting our waterways. It's a sweet deal for factory farm polluters, but it stinks for the rest of us." Shepherdson pointed out that the Bush-Cheney campaign recieved more than $2.5 million from agribusiness interests, and that Mr. Bush received more agribusiness contributions than any other federal candidate received between 1990 and 2000.