WASHINGTON – This morning, the National Turkey Federation (NTF) released the following statement applauding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to maintain the current effluent guidelines for the meat and poultry products (MPP) sector. This decision underscores the Administration’s dedication to streamlining regulations and providing meaningful relief to American workers and families.
These regulatory standards for wastewater discharge, including those from processor facility wastewater treatment plants, were recently analyzed by the EPA to study their efficacy and evaluate if further regulations were necessary. By choosing to uphold the current guidelines, the Administration is ensuring both economic stability and environmental responsibility.
In the EPA’s announcement, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin declared, “EPA is saving billions of dollars in costs the American people would otherwise see in the prices of the meat and poultry they buy at the grocery store while ensuring the protection of human health and the environment.”
NTF, along with other animal agriculture trade groups, has consistently highlighted the important ongoing work the industry is doing to protect water supplies, as well as the negative effects, costs and closures that would result from burdensome new regulations.
“EPA’s determination on the effluent guidelines rule shows that current regulatory arrangements that have been built for years under the Clean Water Act are working for turkey processors, the environment, for the local communities we’ve invested in and for American consumers. Avoiding this unjustified weight allows us to continue to work with our local municipal utilities and do the right things to meet our environmental demands and ultimately ensure we keep our nation’s food supply robust and healthy,” said Leslee Oden, president & CEO of the National Turkey Federation.
Support for maintaining the current standards has also come from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), which noted in early 2024 that local pretreatment programs are already effective at regulating meat and poultry processors. NACWA called the system “mutually beneficial to POTWs (publicly owned treatment works) and the MPP industry” and urged EPA not to establish new pretreatment standards.
