WASHINGTON — The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) voiced concerns on proposed policies as the Biden administration continues to focus on environmental justice.
On Jan. 12, NPPC joined in a coalition with other agriculture, manufacturing, mining, energy, infrastructure, transportation, and waste and recycling groups to express concerns to the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) over its “Federal Environmental Justice Science, Data, and Research Plan.”
The coalition suggested OSTP take the following actions:
- Improve integration of industry contributions.
- Take a more proactive role in fostering transparent information sharing between industries and communities.
- Promote data quality, integrity and accessibility.
- Offer flexibility and interoperability to include local data.
- Address data gaps and strengthen data infrastructure.
- Protect confidential business information.
- Ensure balanced consideration of all data, including potential unintended consequences.
Additionally, the coalition sent feedback to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on Jan. 16 on its draft guidance for “Achieving Health and Environmental Protection Through EPA’s Meaningful Involvement Policy.”
The groups said EPA needs to actively engage trade associations who represent important sectors of the economy in its process as well as provide adequate time for public comments on proposed rules or guidance documents. The groups suggested a default of 60 days for comment periods, with deadline extensions when appropriate.
The letter to EPA added that the agency should ensure the public understands that not all data is equivalent. The groups proposed a discussion on the limitations of any data EPA uses.
The coalition applauded EPA on its information sharing efforts but called for further action, such as creating user-friendly, centralized databases for policies and guidelines and structuring outreach meetings to offer flexibility for both in-person and virtual options, among other suggestions.
“Federal agencies may take different approaches to establishing definitions, processes, data collection, community engagement and funding,” NPPC said in its most recent capital update. “NPPC and other members of the business community are committed to championing responsible development that provides economic opportunities while fostering environmental stewardship and innovation.”
