EPA defends aerial surveillance of livestock operations

Snapping photos of livestock farms from an airplane is a legal and cost-effective way to help protect Nebraska and Iowa streams from runoff contamination, say officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency's aerial surveillance program came under scrutiny last week when Nebraska's congressional delegation sent a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. The elected officials asked Jackson to reply by June 10 to a list of 25 questions, including whether federal law allows such surveillance. On Friday, EPA officials in the agency's Region 7 office in Kansas City provided written responses to questions emailed earlier in the week by The World-Herald. “Courts, including the Supreme Court, have found similar types of flights to be legal (for example to take aerial photographs of a chemical manufacturing facility) and EPA would use such flights in appropriate instances to protect people and the environment from violations of the Clean Water Act,” the agency said in response to a question about legality. Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., a former U.S. agriculture secretary, said Friday he remains highly doubtful the agency has congressional authority to act as an eye in the sky. “They are just way on the outer limits of any authority they've been granted,” he said...more

Looks like my camouflage cattle may make some money after all.