EPA has become a loose cannon (Editorial)

If the Environmental Protection Agency was ever on a leash, the agency broke it long ago and has been running loose, much like a feral cat, ever since.
Apparently unconstrained whatsoever by Congress and the laws which are supposed to define the limits of its authority and its behavior, the agency creeps up on the agricultural industry on silent feet, only to pounce on what it views as another threat to the “environment.”
Livestock and poultry farms are among its favorite and most frequent prey.
As witness:
According to the terms of a settlement agreement with environmentalists, EPA is proposing gathering detailed data from animal operations, including locations, the number and types of animals, contact information, the number of acres where manure could be applied and whether the operation has a Clean Water Act permit.
Here’s what the American Farm Bureau Federation has to say to about that: The Environmental Protection Agency proposal to expand the amount of data collected at large animal farms not only exceeds the agency’s authority under the Clean Water Act, it creates “intense security, safety and privacy concerns” for farmers and ranchers.
The Farm Bureau, joined by dozens of other agriculture organizations, laid out four reasons they oppose within the agency’s plan.
Many livestock and poultry farms do not discharge and therefore should not be required to report. That information, if available to the public, would “greatly raise the risk that these farm and ranch families will experience malicious acts of violence and intimidation by activists.”
The national registry, the proposal would establish, creates unacceptable biosecurity risks that are inconsistent with federal policy to protect the nation’s food supply from such threats. 
The reporting requirements would put the animals’ health in danger.
When people go onto farms unauthorized, even without malicious intent, “and fail to follow their animal health protocols, the risk of disease and death for their animals increases exponentially.”
None of which, of course, is going to stop the feral cat from pouncing and those who love this cat from putting more food out for him (or her) at the back door.
Farmers, and anyone involved in the agricultural industry in this country, knows this cat has to be caged.
November’s polls beckon.