The activist playbook is predictable: file a frivolous lawsuit, challenge an effective agricultural rule or regulation, flood the case with money and cast farmers as villains. This strategy, designed to stifle American ag, threatens not only farmers but also our entire food supply. It’s up to those of us in the industry to push back. Producers know what’s best for their animals, their farms and the communities they serve.
Recently, pork producers won a crucial battle when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected an activist lawsuit that could have upended livestock regulations nationwide. The lawsuit, led by extremists at Food & Water Watch, the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, sought to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require all concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to obtain federal Clean Water Act (CWA) permits or prove they weren’t discharging pollutants into waterways. If successful, this case would have imposed crippling fines, permitting and regulatory chaos, as activists across the country would have the right to comment on every farm’s business plan and open up the industry to attacks from nationwide class action law firms.
Thankfully, the 9th Circuit saw through the activists’ demands. The court ruled that EPA’s decision to gather more data, from all sides, before making any major regulatory changes was both reasonable and aligned with the CWA. This decision reinforces the need for informed, evidence-based rulemaking rather than reactionary litigation.
In its ruling, the 9th Circuit said EPA denying the activists’ demands was not arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not in accordance with the law. The court found the agency “deemed it prudent to first seek information about how best to tackle” challenges associated with raising livestock “before directing resources toward a new rulemaking. Those justifications are reasonable and hardly at odds with the CWA’s requirements.”
Unwavering Commitment
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) led a coalition ensuring agriculture’s voice was heard before the court and defending EPA’s decision, as well as the long-established regulations that have supported modern livestock and poultry farming.
Activists ignore the tremendous progress made in environmental sustainability over the past several decades. Pork producers have long been leaders in maximizing the efficient use of manure and improving on-farm performance and sustainability. We are feeding more people, and more efficiently, than ever. And we’ve addressed environmental challenges, including through adoption of the 2003 CAFO Rule which set a zero-discharge standard, which the industry meets, for livestock and poultry operations.
The activist playbook might be repetitive, but so is our commitment to defending the future of American agriculture.
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