The Environmental Protection Agency has complied with two separate Freedom of Information Act requests for all records relating to the agency’s effort to collect data on livestock and poultry operations. EarthJustice made one request, while the other was a combined request from the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pew Charitable Trust.
Released in electronic format, the data EPA turned over reportedly includes any and all information farmers and ranchers have on file with their state regulatory agency, including but not limited to the type and size of the operation, owners, their addresses and the exact location of the operation. The information has not yet been provided to stakeholders, but is expected in the near future. Once AFBF has the opportunity to review the scope of the data released, we will provide further information.
EPA uploads all records related to the FOIA request onto FOIA online, a public website. Through FOIA online, site visitors are able to search through all FOIA requests with a keyword or FOIA ID number.
EPA expects to close out this FOIA request in the next few weeks and the information EPA provided will be available here.
