EPA decision protects small processors and farmers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed that the current Meat and Poultry Products (MPP) Effluent Guidelines and Standards will remain unchanged. Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that proposed amendments were unnecessary, citing that existing federal wastewater regulations under the Clean Water Act are effective and new requirements would cause undue financial harm.
The proposed changes would have forced processors to install costly new wastewater treatment systems. EPA’s own analysis showed that dozens of small and medium-sized plants would likely have been forced to close, with industry-wide costs exceeding $1 billion annually. Such closures would have reduced packing capacity and strained livestock markets.
“The National Pork Producers Council applauds the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Zeldin for taking a commonsense approach on the Meat & Poultry Processing Rule. As proposed by the previous administration, this rule—which provides no environmental benefits—would have been devastating to small- and medium-sized meat processors across the country and the livestock farmers who rely on them as markets for their animals,” said Duane Stateler, National Pork Producers Council President and pork producer from McComb, Ohio.
“EPA’s action will save not only the nearly 100 local meat processors that EPA itself identified would have to close down but also the thousands of family farmers who rely on them to stay in livestock production, and it will help ensure affordable, nutritious American-grown pork can continue to be served on dinner tables across the country,” concluded Stateler.