[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 180 (Tuesday, December 13, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 6483, THE SWINE WASTE INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATURAL 
                    ENVIRONMENT ACT (THE SWINE ACT)

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2016

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as the 114th Congress comes 
to a close, I have introduced the Swine Waste Infrastructure and 
Natural Environment Act (the SWINE Act, or H.R. 6483). I am hopeful 
that this bill will provoke constructive discussions and suggestions in 
the coming weeks from stakeholders in the agricultural and 
environmental communities, so that I can introduce an improved version 
early next year.
  The SWINE Act builds on efforts in North Carolina and elsewhere to 
develop new technologies to manage and dispose of waste from animal 
agricultural production, replacing the current ``lagoon and spray-
field'' method used by many swine producers. In 1999, the environmental 
impact of lagoon and spray-field waste disposal systems was made 
particularly acute by Hurricane Floyd, an unusually large storm which 
caused poorly-regulated hog lagoons to overflow and discharge untreated 
animal waste into water systems across Eastern North Carolina. But for 
years prior to the storm, large animal feeding operations had emitted 
noxious odor and threatened the air and water quality of small rural 
communities across the Southeast.
  In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, forward-thinking leaders in 
North Carolina initiated a process in which industry, academia, and the 
environmental community worked together to identify waste disposal 
technologies that would mitigate the worst environmental effects of the 
lagoon and spray-field system. The effort sparked a vigorous public 
discussion on issues related to swine waste while fostering a period of 
technological innovation in waste processing technology. For nearly a 
decade, I helped secure federal assistance for the research and 
development of environmentally sound methods of processing swine waste 
and for technical assistance to producers who sought to adopt such 
technologies. While this process resulted in significant progress 
toward a viable alternative to lagoon and spray-fields, the 
technologies developed thus far fell short of the established threshold 
for economic feasibility and have thus not been widely adopted by 
producers.
  The environmental and social threats posed by the lagoon and spray-
field method are not limited to North Carolina, and thus require a 
national solution. With additional investments in research and 
development and incentives for technology adoption, the technologies 
developed in North Carolina and elsewhere--or new technologies yet to 
be developed--can be made market-ready, producing an affordable and 
environmentally superior replacement for lagoon and spray-field. We 
should not be forced to choose between a clean environment and a 
successful, innovative animal agriculture industry. With this bill, I 
believe we can improve the environment while remaining the world leader 
in animal agricultural production.

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