Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations

Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations: Current Knowledge, Future Needs discusses the need for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement a new method for estimating the amount of ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane, and other pollutants emitted from livestock and poultry farms, and for determining how these emissions are dispersed in the atmosphere. The committee calls for the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a joint council to coordinate and oversee short - and long-term research to estimate emissions from animal feeding operations accurately and to develop mitigation strategies. Their recommendation was for the joint council to focus its efforts first on those pollutants that pose the greatest risk to the environment and public health.


Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
2. Livestock Agriculture and Animal Feeding Operations
3. Air Emissions
4. Measuring Emissions
5. Approaches for Estimating Emissions
6. Government Regulations and Programs
7. Improving Knowledge and Practices
8. Conclusions
References
Appendix A: Statement of Task
Appendix B: Acronyms and Glossary
Appendix C: Bioaerosols
Appendix D: Nitrogen and Sulfur Contents of Animal Products and Live Animals -- Sample Excretion Predictions
Appendix E: Animal Units
Appendix F: Ammonia Emissions from Manure Storage
Appendix G: Regulatory Action Levels by Selected Atmospheric Pollutant
Appendix H: Regulatory Action Levels by Regulatory Requirement and Action Status
Appendix I: Emission Factors for a Feed Mill or Grain Elevator
Appendix J: Public Meeting Agendas
Appendix K: Geographic Distribution of Livestock and Poultry Production in the United States for 1997
Appendix L: Emisson Factors in Published Literature
About the Authors
Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications