Johanns Applauds EPS Decision to Exempt Milk for Oil Spill Regulations

April 12, 2011
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) today applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement that it has formally exempted milk spills from regulations intended to address oil spills. Johanns has led an effort in Congress to ensure dairy producers are permanently exempted from this regulation, after the proposed exemption languished for more than two years.
“I'm pleased to hear our dairy producers can finally rest easy knowing they’ll be spared from this unnecessary and duplicative rule. EPA already has a thick book of regulations, and this attempt to apply the same rules to milk spills as it does to oil and gasoline leaks never made sense. I hope this announcement signals EPA’s willingness to begin applying common sense to regulatory decisions.”
Background:
•The EPA currently enforces Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations to prevent oil from discharging into U.S. waterways.
•Until today’s announcement, milk storage containers were not permanently exempt from these SPCC regulations.
•The Food and Drug Administration already regulates milk storage, under the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance