Last summer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo convened the first "Yogurt Summit," a public meeting that brought together dairy farmers, yogurt makers and an array of state officials. Now, environmental groups are suing the Cuomo administration over changes to dairy farm regulations that were a result of the summit.
Click here to read about last year's Yogurt Summit.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation rule change allows farms to have 299 cows before they are required to comply with Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) rules â up from 199 previously.
According to the Associated Press, Riverkeeper, Earthjustice, Sierra Club and other groups said the Department of Environmental Conservation overstepped its authority and violated the federal Clean Water Act when it eased waste-handling rules.
The AP article said:
In formal comments on the proposed rulemaking in January, the environmental groups said the DEC hadn't adequately reviewed the human health, environmental and economic impacts the action would have.
A team of experts in farm waste management hired by the environmental groups concluded that the rule changes would likely cause more degradation of water, soil and air quality. PD
âCompiled from various sources
