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Bill keeps ‘hazardous substance’ label off

A bill recently introduced in the US House would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from classifying livestock manure as a “hazardous substance.” The “Superfund Common-Sense Act” was introduced by southwest Missouri Congressman Billy Long and would prevent farmers from being held liable for clean-up of entire watersheds by clarifying a 1980 law. Long says “environmental extremists” have proposed using part of that Comprehensive Environmental Response and Liability Act to “target and regulate modern livestock operations.”

Long says the1980 legislation was created to deal with hazardous substances in the wake of the Love Canal public health threat and applies to 1,300 federal Superfund toxic waste sites. He says increasing numbers of producers use manure as fertilizer – and if included by the EPA – could be held liable for millions of dollars in damages, which Long says would make “no sense.”

Fellow GOP Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho is a co-sponsor of the legislation and is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees EPA funding.