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Moran sponsors legislation to stop "cow tax"Congressman Jerry Moran sponsored legislation in mid-March to prevent regulations that would require agriculture producers to obtain costly operating permits under the Clean Air Act. H.R. 1426 would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from instituting what has become known as the "cow tax," which could result from proposed greenhouse gas regulations. "I strongly oppose implementation of the 'cow tax' for the unnecessary fees it will place on producers," Moran said. "If the regulation is enacted, livestock producers would be forced to obtain a permit to continue to do business--which would dramatically increase production costs. I sponsored this legislation to protect farmers and ranchers, who already face challenges as a result of the sluggish economy, from paying additional fees." H.R. 1426 was introduced in response to the EPA's publication of an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to explore regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, which was released last summer. The publication outlines several scenarios that could result in livestock producers having to obtain operating permits if they operate a farm or ranch with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle, 200 hogs or 500 acres of corn. The fees associated with the potential regulations would be costly for livestock producers and increase consumer prices. The introduction of H.R. 1426 occurred on the same day that EPA announced it will publish a proposed rule to establish a nationwide system for reporting greenhouse gas emissions. This reporting system would apply to measuring greenhouse gas statistics for confined animal-feeding operations. H.R. 1426 is a companion bill to S.527, which was introduced by Senator John Thune, R-SD, and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY.
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