By Tom Pedreira

According to an April 11, 2009, article in The Fresno Bee, a court has ordered that air quality standards affecting dairies in the Central Valley be temporarily suspended, the effect of which would have been the same as removing 1.3 million cars from the roads.

As reported in The Bee, the rule was aimed at reactive organic gases coming from waste, feed and the animals themselves. Owners of animal operations reduce gases with such measures as special feed and washing waste out of animal stalls.

Legal action and new state law had forced the district to pass the rule in 2006. However, a lawsuit was later filed challenging the rune by the Association of Irritated Residents, or AIR, based in Kern County.

The court apparently agreed with contentions by AIR that there was no proof or not adequate proof that the rule by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District protects anyone.

A state court last year ordered an analysis of health benefits. The court also required the district to set the rule aside until the health study is considered. Animal operations are have been considered among the biggest contributors of reactive organic gases. It is one of the two main ingredients in ozone, a corrosive gas that can trigger lung problems such as asthma.

The effect of the case may be only temporary. It does show, however, that rules and regulations designed to protect the environment can be a double-edged sword in the sense that they can sometimes be successfully challenged when there are not adequate legal findings to support them.

Tom Pedreira, a business attorney with the Mikkelborg firm, represents agribusiness interests.