The Environmental Protection Agency has officially decided to maintain its current Meat and Poultry Effluent Guidelines and Standards, backing away from stricter proposals that had raised serious concerns within the livestock industry. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin confirmed the agency’s review determined that current Clean Water Act regulations remain sufficient and effective, making additional restrictions unnecessary.
The proposed changes would have required meat and poultry processing facilities to implement costly wastewater upgrades, sparking widespread opposition from producers and processors who said the costs would far outweigh any potential environmental benefits.
National Pork Producers Council President Duane Stateler welcomed the decision, stating, “We applaud the administration and Administrator Zeldin for this commonsense approach to the Meat and Poultry Processing Rule. This rule would have provided no environmental benefits and been devastating to small and medium-sized meat processors across the country and the livestock farmers counting on them as markets for their animals.”
The EPA’s economic analysis concluded that the majority of facilities could not afford the investments that would have been required under the proposed revisions, potentially forcing many smaller processors to close their doors. For livestock producers already grappling with market volatility, input costs, and global trade pressures, the decision removes a major regulatory burden that industry groups argued was unnecessary in the first place.
