The EPA removes the “propose to discharge” requirement for CAFOs

On July 19^th, the EPA removed the “propose to discharge” requirement from the permitting process for Consolidated Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in response to National Pork Producers Council v. EPA. The revision eliminates the requirement that CAFOs must get approval from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. The new rule became effective on July, 30^th.

Written by Joseph Negaard, Research Assistant

Penn State Law, Agricultural Law Center

August 6, 2012

Click here for the CAFO regulation

Click here to read the final rule in the Federal Register.

FDA Announces First Seizure of Food Administratively Detained Under Food Safety Modernization Act

On October 11, 2011, the FDA announced its first seizure of food product subject to the administrative detention allowance under the new Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FSMA, which amends the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, lowers the FDA's threshold to exercise administrative detention of food products. Before the amendment, credible evidence that food posed a threat of death or serious health consequences, to humans or animals, was needed prior to detention.  Now, the FDA needs only a "reason to believe" the food is adulterated or misbranded.

During an inspection of Dominguez Foods of Washington, Inc, on Sept. 2, 2011, the FDA issued its detention order upon detecting evidence of a rodent and insect infestation in the facility's warehouse and processing area. The detention order was issued for all food in the facility not hermetically sealed in containers by the close of the inspection. On Sept. 30, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals seized the product from the facility in Zillah, Washington.

Read the full FDA Press Release here.

Read more about the FSMA here.

Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant

U.S. Representatives Introduce American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011

Photo Courtesy of Dreamstime.com

On September 19, 2011, Representatives Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduced House Bill 2466, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011, that would amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the "shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of any horse or other equine to be slaughtered for human consumption." The Bill would also grant the Secretary of Agriculture authority to detain any horse for examination, testing, or the taking of evidence at a show, exhibition, sale, or auction which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is "sore"; as well as any horse that the Secretary has probable cause to believe has been "shipped, transported, moved, delivered, received, possessed, purchased, sold, or donated" in violation of the Act. Finally, the Bill would increase the appropriations for the Horse Prevention Act by ten-fold: from $500,000 to $5,000,000.

Horse slaughter plants no longer operate within U.S borders; however, thousands of horses are still shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. This bi-partisan measure aims to end the export and slaughter of U.S. equines for human consumption. House Bill 2466 has been referred to both the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The comparable Senate Bill, SB 1176, was introduced in the Senate on June 9, 2011; has been read twice; and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Read the Full Text of House Bill 2466 here.
Read the APHIS Fact Sheet on the Horse Protection Act here.

Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant