Hoard's Dairyman:
Emissions reporting ruling draws near
August 17, 2026
By Clay Detlefsen, Senior Vice President, Regulatory & Environmental Affairs
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), was created in 1986. It’s intended to help communities plan for chemical emergencies and requires industry to report on the storage, use, and release of hazardous substances to federal, state, and local governments. Overall, EPCRA is actually a good legislation, and it was passed by Congress for a good reason.
But EPCRA is also a very complicated and comprehensive law, with many provisions. And while some provisions make a lot of sense, others don’t, depending on how they’re applied.
The dairy industry can be subject to reporting requirements in EPCRA 304 — an emergency reporting obligation when chemicals are released into the environment — as well as reporting obligations under EPCRA 311, EPCRA 312, and EPCRA 313.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has worked for decades to resolve conflict with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental activists over various EPCRA reporting mandates for dairy farmers and processors, and has had success in resolving many of those conflicts. Now, we’re on the precipice of resolving yet another EPCRA reporting conflict: a Section 304 provision that requires reporting of air emissions from manure.
This EPCRA obligation is triggered when there’s a release of 100 pounds or more of anhydrous ammonia or ammonia off manure in a 24-hour time frame. By my rough estimates, about 1,400 cows would trigger an obligation. This requirement creates a lot of unnecessary work for dairy farmers, and also for government officials and emergency responders, which nobody wants. So, in 2008, EPA proposed an air emission from manure exemption to the reporting requirements under Section 304 for farmers.
That rule was challenged in the courts by environmental activists who ultimately won in 2017. EPA then recrafted another exemption in 2019 which has also been challenged, but thankfully, last year, the federal district court ruled that the EPCRA exemption from EPA was in fact valid and appropriate. That ruling is now under appeal, and the appeals court will likely have oral arguments on that issue within the next six months. So now, after nearly 20 years of back-and-forth in the courts, we may soon be able to put this issue to rest once and for all.
This exciting development is just one example of the many regulatory issues that NMPF has poured time and resources into over the years. From environmental issues to food safety to nutrition and the similarly long-term fight against plant-based dairy imposters, regulatory changes take years. And though you may not always hear about these issues, some of NMPF’s most successful regulatory battles are won in Washington before the effects ever reach the dairy farm.
To hear more about the history of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and NMPF’s work to support dairy farmers, check out the latest episode of the “Dairy Defined” podcast.
This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Aug. 17, 2026.
