Monitoring, modeling, and regulating air pollution from industrial animal agriculture in the United States

Industrial animal agriculture contributes to air pollution, accounting for the majority of ammonia emissions and a significant portion of hydrogen sulfide and particulate matter pollution in the United States. Primarily resulting from manure management practices at animal feeding operations (AFOs), these pollutants harm human health, with minority populations at the greatest risk of exposure. Despite these environmental, health, and justice concerns, emissions from AFOs are poorly monitored, and polluting facilities have evaded regulation for decades, partly due to delays in the development of federally-sanctioned emissions estimation methodologies. Here, we provide a brief history of regulatory efforts related to air pollution from industrial animal agriculture in the United States, and we analyze the largest publicly-available dataset of air pollution from AFOs to identify opportunities to reduce barriers to regulation based on existing data. We then provide an overview of available methods for modeling emissions, evaluate current draft models developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and propose strategies for gathering additional data tailored towards improved regulation.