Federal CAFO tax credit proposed

Republican Congressman Tom Osborne of Nebraska announced today that he has introduced legislation to provide a tax credit to CAFOs to offset the cost of compliance with federal water quality regulations. Osborne describes the EPA's CAFO rules as "an unfunded federal mandate" that comes at a time when producers are already struggling economically. Osborne's colleague in the Senate, Chuck Hagel (R-NE), introduced companion legislation in that body on June 29. The Senator states that although he agrees that polluting discharges from livestock operations should be controlled, "EPA has once again regulated industry without considering the costs." Neither Osborne's nor Hagel's press offices were able to point us to an electronic version of the text of their respective proposals today, but we'll keep looking and provide more details when we have them.

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