Bill would protect livestock producers' personal data

Sen, Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.

A bipartisan pair of senators have introduced a bill called the Farmer Protection Act, which would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from releasing personal information about livestock operators, Amanda Peterka reports for Environment & Energy News. The act "cites the threat of terrorist attacks on the nation's food supply and the fact that the nation's livestock operations are largely family-owned as reasons for limiting EPA's ability to release data."

Earlier this year, EPA released spreadsheets containing data from concentrated animal feeding operations in 29 states to environmental groups Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Pew Charitable Trusts, in response to their Freedom of Information Act request, Peterka reports. EPA defended its decision, saying the information already appears on state websites. But livestock producers were upset, which led the EPA to twice recall and re-release data, and has led to congressional investigations and a lawsuit by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council.

Sen. Chuck Grassley

The bill was introduced by veteran Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa) and freshman Democrat Joe Donnelly of Indiana. "It is unacceptable that the EPA released the personal contact information of over 80,000 livestock and poultry owners from across the nation," Donnelly said. "This blatant violation of privacy must not happen again."

The bill would prohibit the release of any identifying information, such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and GPS coordinates, but "would not restrict EPA from releasing data in aggregate form or from operations that voluntarily consents to disclosure," Peterka reports. "State environmental authorities would still be allowed to gather and disseminate data to other state agencies and the federal government." (Read more)