Appeal Filed Over Court Decision Letting EPA Suppress Factory Farm Air Pollution Reporting

On October 3, 2025, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) joined conservation and community groups to appeal a federal court decision upholding a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule under the Trump administration that exempts factory farms from having to publicly report dangerous air emissions. The decision, issued by the District Court for the District of Columbia, leaves frontline communities in the dark about noxious chemicals in the air they breathe. The groups argue that the rule is unlawful.

The appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeks to ensure that industrial-scale livestock and poultry operations report their toxic releases of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Exposure to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide released from the highly concentrated animal waste produced by factory farms can cause many human health problems, including respiratory diseases, nasal and eye irritation, headaches, nausea and even death. According to a recent study, air pollution from the livestock industry, including ammonia and hydrogen sulfide chemical releases, is responsible for over 12,700 U.S. deaths per year — more deaths than are attributed to air pollution from coal-fired power plants. But these chemical releases have never been consistently reported, contrary to law.

At issue in this appeal is a 2018 regulatory exemption adopted by the EPA that protects factory farms from having to disclose their ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions as the law requires. The pollution reporting requirements are designed to guarantee that communities and emergency responders have access to information necessary to protect themselves from harmful exposure to these hazardous substances.

The EPA’s 2018 rule follows Congress’s passage of a law called the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method Act that exempted factory farms from reporting their emissions under a separate federal law. The agency then unlawfully extended the Act to also let the industry off the hook under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, leaving communities with no access to information about highly dangerous chemical emissions.

The appellants are Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, ALDF, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Don’t Waste Arizona, Environmental Integrity Project, Food & Water Watch, Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States), Sierra Club, Sound Rivers, and Waterkeeper Alliance, and are represented by Earthjustice. Food & Water Watch and ALDF are also represented by in-house counsel.