Environmental groups appeal federal court decision on EPA reporting requirements

IOWA ( Iowa Capital Dispatch ) - Environmental groups are appealing a federal court’s decision to uphold a rule exempting livestock and poultry operations from reporting significant releases of air pollutants.

The environmental groups allege the rule is unlawful and that exposure to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from these operations is responsible for more deaths annually than exposure to air pollution from coal plants.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which intervened in the case, celebrated the court ruling in its favor and said the rules were “onerous and unnecessary” by requiring producers to file “complex, overreaching reports.”

In August, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the environmental groups’ request for summary judgment and instead g