Owens to EPA: exempt raw milk

WASHINGTON — Two Northern New York members of Congress joined a growing call from Congress to exempt raw milk on dairy farms from oil-spill regulations.

Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, and Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Wednesday, urging her to leave dairy farms out of the regulations — something the agency has promised to do but has yet to make official.

By the EPA's proposed rules, raw milk is considered oil because of its butterfat content. Dairy farms of even a modest size by industry standards could be required to draft spill prevention and management plans, and larger farms would have to have such plans certified by an engineer.

"While these rules were well intentioned, we should not treat our farms like oil companies and impose this additional burden on an already-struggling industry," the lawmakers wrote. "While it is important to ensure safety and prevent environmental hazards, we feel that additional regulations pose an unnecessary burden to dairy farmers in this tough economic time."

Farms with as little as 1,320 gallons of milk in storage would be subject to the rule, or the majority of New York farms, the lawmakers said in a press release.

They joined many other lawmakers, including Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who have spoken out on the issue in recent days. Mr. Schumer is pursuing legislation with Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., to force the EPA to exempt dairy farms.

Mr. Murphy also signed on to similar legislation in the House.

The EPA drafted an exemption in 2009 but, like many other Bush administration policies, it was suspended pending review by the incoming Obama administration. The EPA has not said it intends ultimately to apply the rule to dairy farms, but lawmakers say they want assurances in writing to ease farmers' concerns.