The US government will exempt dairy farmers from anti-pollution regulations aimed at controlling oil spills, the US Environmental Protection Agency says. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson announced the decision as part of the North American Agricultural Journalists meeting.
“That exemption is now finished with White House review and will be published,” Jackson says. The US National Milk Producers Association, which worked for two years on the exemption, which it called a common-sense decision. It says EPA agreed last summer to issue the exemption.
EPA requires oil tanks and containers and requires operators to write a plan to prevent and control spills. Jackson says the spill-control regulation also covered animal fats, which led to questions if it included milk storage tanks since milk contains animal fat.