EPA Strikes Down Proposed Factory Farm Regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged that one of the greatest threats to America’s water supply is factory farm runoff, but rather than enact stricter regulations, the government agency has opted to slacken its grip on the food industry. According to The New York Times, last year the EPA retracted a statute that would have increased the number of farms that would have to operate with a pollution discharge permit, and it also cancelled a measure that would monitor the farms more closely. Recently, proposed federal regulations that could help control the 500 million to 1 billion tons of manure runoff from feedlots were also nullified.