Livestock operations account for about two-thirds of reported U.S. ammonia emissions, according to the EPA, and these gases pose a threat to people living and working near the farms, and contribute to acid rain and other atmospheric pollution. Nonetheless, the federal government is now recommending a rule change that would exempt factory farms from reporting large emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from animal manure.

Opponents of the rule change say agriculture lobbyists orchestrated a campaign to convince the EPA that the reports are not useful and misrepresented the effort as reflecting the views of local officials. They say the plan to drop the reporting requirement is emblematic of a broader effort by the Bush-era EPA to roll back federal pollution rules.

"One of the running themes we have seen is they have taken numerous industry-friendly actions that are shot down in the courts, but they buy time for industry" in appeals and reviews that could extend years into the next administration, said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a nonprofit environmental group based in Washington.

Not surprisingly, the livestock industry argues that the rule is unnecessary and ultimately has no impact on the environment.

In 2005, the National Chicken Council, U.S. poultry & Egg Association and the National Turkey Federation called the ammonia reporting rule "inappropriate, unwise public policy, which does not reflect the nature of poultry management practices, and does not improve environmental or public health outcomes in any way."

The livestock industry’s position seems to ignore the fact that there are various measures that can be taken to reduce the negative impacts of animal manure on air pollution, and the runoff into lakes and rivers. By adding aluminum sulfate (alum) to poultry manure and aluminum chloride to swine manure, runoff and ammonia emissions can be reduced dramatically, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s own research.

Now, if we knew that all farmers were undertaking these environmentally-responsible measures, maybe there wouldn’t be a need for emissions reporting. But the agriculture and livestock industry has a long and sordid history of resisting sound environmental practices and regulations. Exempting large livestock operations from emissions reporting would remove one of the few measures that’s now in place that keep tabs on the pollution caused by this industry. Seems like our government is headed in the wrong direction on this issue.