Environmental Protection Agency
Today's final rule revises Clean Water Act effluent limitations guidelines and new source performance standards for meat producing facilities. These revisions apply to existing as well as new slaughtering facilities ( "first processors"), to facilities that further process meat to produce products like sausages ("further processors") and to independent rendering facilities that convert inedible by-products to items like pet food ("renderers"). The rule establishes, for the first time, effluent limitations guidelines and new source performance standards for existing and new poultry first and further processors. Today's guidelines and standards establish limitations on wastewater discharges of specified pollutants for meat and poultry products facilities that discharge directly to U.S. waters. There are no current regulations for facilities that discharge indirectly, and EPA has not adopted regulations for those facilities. Today's rule applies to wastewater discharges from existing meat and poultry facilities above specified production thresholds. Today's new source standards apply to new meat facilities above the production thresholds and to all new poultry facilities irrespective of their production level. EPA is not revising the current effluent limitations guidelines or new source performance standards for meat first or further processors below the production threshold. This final rule will benefit the Nation's receiving waters by reducing discharges of conventional pollutants, ammonia, and nitrogen. EPA estimates that compliance with this regulation will reduce discharges of nitrogen up to 27 million pounds per year, ammonia by 3 million pounds per year, and conventional pollutants by 4 million pounds per year.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Environmental Protection Agency 40 CFR Part 432 [FRL-7631-2] RIN 2040-AD56 AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: Today's final rule revises Clean Water Act effluent limitations guidelines and new source performance standards for meat producing facilities. These revisions apply to existing as well as new slaughtering facilities ( “first processors”), to facilities that further process meat to produce products like sausages (“further processors”) and to independent rendering facilities that convert inedible by-products to items like pet food (“renderers”). The rule establishes, for the first time, effluent limitations guidelines and new source performance standards for existing and new poultry first and further processors. Today's guidelines and standards establish limitations on wastewater discharges of specified pollutants for meat and poultry products facilities that discharge directly to U.S. waters. There are no current regulations for facilities that discharge indirectly, and EPA has not adopted regulations for those facilities. Today's rule applies to wastewater discharges from existing meat and poultry facilities above specified production thresholds. Today's new source standards apply to new meat facilities above the production thresholds and to all new poultry facilities irrespective of their production level. EPA is not revising the current effluent limitations guidelines or new source performa…
Citation: 69 FR 54476
