WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., has asked three federal agencies to halt regulations on livestock emissions.
In a letter also signed by 15 other Republican senators, Hoeven pressed the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency not to impose policies that he said could cost cattle producers thousands of dollars.
The letter is in response to President Barack Obama's Climate Action Plan, which asks the agencies to develop a plan to reduce dairy sector methane greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, according to the release. The mandates could cost medium-sized dairy farms up to $22,000 and medium-sized cattle farms up to $27,000.
An appropriations bill is preventing the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock production, but it expires Oct. 1. Officials at the agencies are expected to come up with a plan in the following weeks.
