Attorney General Chris Carr is pushing back against a recent proposal from the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to impose, for the first time ever, new pollution limits and pretreatment standards on meat and poultry processors. Currently, the EPA regulates roughly 150 meat processing facilities in the U.S. With this proposed rule, the EPA would sweep into its regulatory orbit approximately 3,000 additional facilities.
“The massive costs associated with these unnecessary and unlawful regulations would undoubtedly result in decreased production or, even worse, facility closures throughout our state,” said Carr. “Strains on the supply chain lead to higher prices for consumers and additional burdens for our business community. While the Biden administration plays politics with our state’s leading industry, we will continue fighting to protect Georgia’s farmers and families from these reckless federal requirements.”
In a letter sent to the EPA, Carr and 26 other attorneys general argue that the proposed rule exceeds the EPA's statutory authority under the Clean Water Act, grossly underestimates the burdens of compliance, and conflicts with federal efforts to strengthen food supply chains.The proposal comes in response to a settlement agreement between the EPA and environmental advocacy groups, which raises serious concerns about due process and transparency in the regulatory process.Along with Georgia, the attorneys general of the following states have also signed on to the letter: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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