Update on Bills Addressing FPRs from Paul Schemel

This update is from State Representative Paul Schemel's Weekly Round Up Newsletter on October 4th, and contains information on the status of bills for Food Processing Residuals.

This week, the Environmental Resources & Energy Committee voted on two bills addressing issues with Food Process Residuals (FPRs). As many of you are aware, the spreading of FPRs on local fields has caused an uproar among residents of Franklin County, particularly Antrim Township. House Bill 2393 and House Bill 2594 passed out of committee on Wednesday. As a member of the committee, I supported both bills and voted yes.

I first became aware of the problems caused by some FPRs following a complaint from an Antrim Township resident that their drinking water had become contaminated following the spreading of FPRs on a nearby field. After visiting the resident’s home, I gained an appreciation of the magnitude of the problem. In addition to presumably being the well contaminate, the smell from FPRs can hang in the air for weeks on end, making it impossible for neighbors to keep their windows open or dry laundry outside.

FPRs are the wash that remains after meat and produce is processed. It can contain high volumes of blood, milk whey and other residue, which causes significant odor. As Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland have recently regulated the spreading of FPRs on fields, food processors in those states have increasingly sent their residuals to Pennsylvania, where the regulations relating to land application of FPRs are very loose.

Over the last year and a half, I have been a participant in a statewide working group that included experts from the Department of Agriculture, Penn State, the Department of Environmental Protection and various other stakeholders. The objective of the working group was to develop a workable solution to the emerging problem of FPRs. HB 2393 and HB 2594 are the product of that effort.

Currently, both bills are scheduled for a vote in next week’s House session. I intend to speak in favor of both bills and argue for their passage.