Bill Would Keep Farmers’ Private Data Private

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives has resolved to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from disclosing private information of U.S. farmers and ranchers, as it did in early 2013, reported Dairy Heard Management on its website. Congressman Rick Crawford (R-AR) and Representatives Jim Costa (D-CA), Lee Terry (R-NE) and Mike McIntyre (D-NC) introduced the Farmer Identity Protection Act to prohibit EPA from releasing agricultural producers’ private information into the public domain, the dairyheard.com article said.

In 2012, EPA proposed a rule under the Clean Water Act that would have allowed the agency to gather private information of livestock producers and make it publicly available and searchable through its website. USDA, the Department of Homeland Security, lawmakers in Congress, and agricultural organizations protested that the proposal not only exceeded EPA’s authority but also would help activist organizations target farming and ranching operations and could threaten the safety and security of the nation’s food supply.

EPA ultimately withdrew the proposal but still collected private information of more than 80,000 livestock operations in 30 states and released it through Freedom of Information Act requests. Data, including names, addresses, phone numbers and even GPS coordinates of agricultural operations, was disclosed to Earth Justice, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Despite opposition from environmental organizations, Rep. Crawford said the legislation has enough support to move through the House, but the Senate might be more challenging. He asked farmers and ranchers to urge lawmakers to support the bill.