EPA Proposes To Reduce Nutrients Discharged from Meat and
Poultry Processing Facilities

EPA is proposing new wastewater discharge limits for poultry processing facilities and revised
wastewater discharge limits for large meat processing facilities. These limits would reduce pollutants,
particularly nitrogen, from these facilities by roughly 87 million pounds per year. The proposed
standards would apply to facilities that slaughter animals and process meat or poultry into products,
including meat cuts, sausage, hams, canned meats and partially cooked products such as chicken
nuggets. They also would apply to facilities that render meat and poultry by-products into edible and
inedible products such as pet or animal feed. EPA estimates that it will cost the meat and poultry
processing industry about $80 million per year to comply with the proposed regulations.