June 25, 2010 11:47AM 

# EPA on Guard against Spills 

By [Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson) 

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Well, at least of the [dairy kind](http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1224670387/Outcry-from-farmers-over-spilled-milk-rule):

> New Environmental Protection Agency regulations treat spilled milk like oil, requiring farmers to build extra storage tanks and form emergency spill plans.…
> 
> 
> The EPA regulations state that “milk typically contains a percentage of animal fat, which is a non-petroleum oil. Thus, containers storing milk are subject to the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Program rule when they meet the applicability criteria.”

Peter Daining of the *Holland* *Sentinel* (Holland, MI) [has a report](http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1224670387/Outcry-from-farmers-over-spilled-milk-rule), including predictions that smaller dairy producers could be driven out of business by the cost of the containment rules.

##### Related Tags 

[Energy and Environment](https://www.cato.org/research/energy-environment), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) 

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