The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued an August 30th news release announcing a final action to impose no additional Clean Water Act wastewater discharge regulations on meat and poultry processing facilities.
On January 23, 2024, EPA had published a proposed regulation to revise existing Effluent Limitation Guidelines (“ELGs”) for the meat and poultry industry imposing additional requirements. See Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0736.
The proposed rule would address ELGs for the Meat and Poultry Products (“MPP”) Industrial Category. It would encompass MPPs that discharge pollutants into Waters of the United States and public-owned treatment works.
The MPP includes facilities that engage in meat and/or poultry slaughter, further processing, or rendering. Also included are pet food and animal food manufacturers.
Section 301(b) of the Clean Water Act authorizes EPA to promulgate national categorical standards or limits to restrict discharges of specific pollutants on an industry-by-industry basis. These effluent limits are incorporated into a point source discharger’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit as a baseline minimum requirement.
Clean Water Act effluent limits are derived from research regarding pollution control technology used in the industry. The analysis will include the degree of reduction of the pollutant that can be achieved through the use of various levels of technology. The applicable standard is dictated by the kind of pollutant discharged.
EPA’s development of categorical effluent limits is an ongoing process. The federal agency is required to continue to promulgate categorical standards for facilities that have not been addressed. Existing categorical standards are also required to be assessed to determine if revisions are warranted. The MPP category is an example.
The August 30th EPA news release states that the final action imposing no additional ELGs on this industrial category:
…advances the Trump Administration’s successful efforts to support a lower cost of living for American families and American farmers while protecting human health and the environment.
A copy of the news release can be downloaded here.
