Klobuchar: EPA Decision to Exempt Milk Spills from Rule Will Save Dairy Farmers Millions

Press Release

Following bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this year by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and eight other senators, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will exempt milk and milk-product containers from the Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule. Earlier versions of this proposed regulation unnecessarily required dairy producers to create the same type of prevention plans that oil companies use to deal with oil spills. Minnesota is the sixth-largest dairy-producing state and is home to nearly a half-million dairy cows, which together produce nearly 9 billion pounds of dairy products each year. The exemption could save the U.S. dairy industry over $140 million per year.

"This decision protects our dairy farmers from unnecessary and costly rules that were designed for massive oils spills and toxic substances," Klobuchar said. "Dairy farmers are not only crucial to Minnesota's prosperity but also play a key role in our country's economy. This common-sense exemption will help dairy farmers who have been fighting to recover from low milk prices and continue to face high feed costs."

As part of the Clean Water Act, the EPA has the authority over the Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures program, which contains regulations to ensure that facilities that store or use significant quantities of oil or toxic substances develop a prevention plan in case of spills.

The EPA's definition of oil within the Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures regulation includes milk because of its animal fat content. Under the proposed regulation, dairy producers with more than 1,320 gallons of stored milk would have been required to develop a spill-prevention plan which, in some cases, can cost thousands of dollars. Milk storage is already regulated under a Food and Drug Administration rule called the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance.

In January, Klobuchar and a bipartisan group of eight senators introduced legislation that would exempt dairy farmers from this regulation.

Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and has also introduced legislation with Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) that would ensure that American farmers are represented in the decision-making process for environmental policies and regulations. The Representation for Farmers Act would give the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to appoint up to three members with agricultural backgrounds to the EPA's Science Advisory Board.

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