WASHINGTON (AP) - State and local officials told Congress today the federal government should impose national controls on farm animal waste to protect waterways that flow across boundaries
Such controls would prevent companies from relocating where there is little regulation, they said
The states can't solve the animal waste problem alone, said Maryland Gov Parris Glendening, a Democrat who is pushing increased regulation of farms following a toxic microbe outbreak last summer in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay
Farm practices in at least six states impact the bay's water quality, Glendening said, so without national standards ``only incomplete solutions to the problem will ever be achieved.''
``As a single state, we can only have a limited impact on overall water quality,'' Glendening told the Senate Agriculture Committee. ``We must address the issue of water quality on a broader scale.''
Both Glendening and Susan Savage, the Democratic mayor of Tulsa, Okla., said states that are willing to impose their own tough regulations could wind up losing jobs if companies decide to move elsewhere
``They will look for new markets and more relaxed regulatory climates,'' said Savage, whose state is also working on hog and poultry waste regulations
``States such as Oklahoma, who do the right thing, should not be penalized economically for protecting their drinking water supplies.''
There are already several federal proposals to address manure runoff and pollution, which overloads waterways with nutrients that spur growth of algae and other organisms. The problem has worsened as animals are increasingly concentrated in larger and larger operations
The Environmental Protection Agency last month proposed rules, under the Clean Water Act, to set new pollution standards and waste management plans for the 6,600 largest cattle, hog and poultry operations
Some in Congress want to go further. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has introduced legislation that would set even tougher minimum animal waste standards and require companies to submit detailed plans to the Agriculture Department, instead of to the EPA
The Clinton administration and many leading Republicans oppose the Harkin bill, saying it is unnecessary duplication and would put a strain on limited staffing resources. Poultry and livestock producers also prefer the EPA proposal, which they say will impose national standards for all states
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