WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund filed a legal petition today asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve public transparency and oversight over the inspection and regulation of slaughterhouses and egg-processing operations. The groups are represented in this matter by Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA is the agency tasked with inspecting and regulating several aspects of meat, poultry and egg processing operations at approximately 800 federally inspected livestock slaughterhouses across the United States. The agency has long been shielded from the public disclosure and environmental review requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The petition seeks to remove that exemption and properly require the agency to analyze the environmental impacts of its decisions related to its oversight of these operations.

“The USDA has to quit hiding the environmental harms caused by letting the country’s largest meatpackers expand relentlessly and increasingly use high-speed slaughter systems to kill and process animals,” said Hannah Connor, environmental health deputy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The agency continues to skirt important public review and disclosure requirements, leaving all of us in the dark about dangers to the environment and local communities. The USDA must come clean and follow the law.”

FSIS’s regulation of slaughterhouses, meatpacking and egg facilities leads to substantial threats to the environment. The speeds at which animals are slaughtered result in significant harm to the environment such as diminished air and water quality, increased noise pollution, heightened risks of diseases in animals and threats to endangered species. Increased slaughterhouse line production also increases public health risks and contributes to the ongoing environmental injustices connected to the meatpacking industry.

The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies like FSIS to evaluate and disclose the significant environmental impacts of its actions. The objective is twofold: to compel agencies to consider environmental consequences seriously and to facilitate public transparency and involvement in governmental decision-making processes.

Since 1983, however, FSIS has been categorically excluded from environmental disclosure requirements because it allegedly does not significantly impact the environment. Today’s petition calls for a rescission of that exemption.

"By filing this petition, we aim to compel FSIS to adhere to NEPA’s mandates, ensuring that the agency conducts thorough environmental reviews of its regulations and actions, which historically have been excluded," stated Laura Fox, director of FAAC. "This action is crucial for greater transparency and public involvement in decisions that significantly affect our environment and for addressing harms to animals at slaughterhouses."

Today’s petition for rulemaking represents an important intersection of animal law, environmental protection and public policy because it emphasizes the important connection between the environmental threats of animal slaughter and the meat industry.